Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2023
In this chapter we introduce the Bayesian approach to inverse problems in which the unknown parameter and the observed data are viewed as random variables. In this probabilistic formulation, the solution of the inverse problem is the posterior distribution on the parameter given the data. We will show that the Bayesian formulation leads to a form of well-posedness: small perturbations of the forward model or the observed data translate into small perturbations of the posterior distribution. Well-posedness requires a notion of distance between probability measures. We introduce the total variation and Hellinger distances, giving characterizations of them, and bounds relating them, that will be used throughout these notes. We prove well-posedness in the Hellinger distance.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.