Applied Analysis Seminar

Monday February 11, in K9509, SFU

3:30 - 4:20
Veit Elser
CECM, Cornell University

Title: "Phase retrieval with bits, pixels, and atoms."

Abstract: Phase retrieval, or "the phase problem", arises in several scientific disciplines and yet, oddly, nobody seems to know just how difficult it is. This talk begins by defining the problem in terms accessible to non-specialists, and continues with a description of the Phase Retrieval Challenge project. The latter is an attempt to attract the attention of currently untapped resources (NSA, math hackers, ...) by posting a carefully selected set of phase retrieval instances on the web. Time permitting, I will discuss the "difference map" algorithm, the current unofficial record holder in retrieving bits and pixels.