Computing reconstructions from nonuniform Fourier samples: Universality of stability barriers and stable sampling rates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the stability and accuracy of reconstructing functions from nonuniform Fourier samples are universal, independent of sampling geometry, and provides conditions for stable polynomial and wavelet reconstructions.

Contribution

It introduces a universal framework for stability barriers and sampling rates in nonuniform Fourier sampling, applicable across various sampling geometries.

Findings

Stability barriers are universal across sampling geometries.

Explicit frame bounds depend on sampling set and spectrum.

Conditions for stable polynomial and wavelet reconstruction are established.

Abstract

We study the problem of recovering an unknown compactly-supported multivariate function from samples of its Fourier transform that are acquired nonuniformly, i.e. not necessarily on a uniform Cartesian grid. Reconstruction problems of this kind arise in various imaging applications, where Fourier samples are taken along radial lines or spirals for example. Specifically, we consider finite-dimensional reconstructions, where a limited number of samples is available, and investigate the rate of convergence of such approximate solutions and their numerical stability. We show that the proportion of Fourier samples that allow for stable approximations of a given numerical accuracy is independent of the specific sampling geometry and is therefore universal for different sampling scenarios. This allows us to relate both sufficient and necessary conditions for different sampling setups and to exploit several results that were previously available only for very specific sampling geometries. The results are obtained by developing: (i) a transference argument for different measures of the concentration of the Fourier transform and Fourier samples; (ii) frame bounds valid up to the critical sampling density, which depend explicitly on the sampling set and the spectrum. As an application, we identify sufficient and necessary conditions for stable and accurate reconstruction of algebraic polynomials or wavelet coefficients from nonuniform Fourier data.