Multiobjective optimization for scattering mitigation and scattering screen reconstruction in VLBI observations of the Galactic Center

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Mus, Alejandro, Toscano, Teresa, Müller, Hendrik, Zhao, Guang-Yao, Lobanov, Andrei, Goddi, Ciriaco
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Mus, Alejandro
Toscano, Teresa
Müller, Hendrik
Zhao, Guang-Yao
Lobanov, Andrei
Goddi, Ciriaco
author_facet Mus, Alejandro
Toscano, Teresa
Müller, Hendrik
Zhao, Guang-Yao
Lobanov, Andrei
Goddi, Ciriaco
contents Imaging reconstruction of interferometric data is a hard ill-posed inverse problem. Its difficulty is increased when observing the Galactic Center, which is obscured by a scattering screen. This is because the scattering breaks the one-to-one correspondence between images and visibilities. Solving the scattering problem is one of the biggest challenges in radio imaging of the Galactic Center. In this work we present a novel strategy to mitigate its effect and constrain the screen itself using multiobjective optimization. We exploit the potential of evolutionary algorithms to describe the optimization landscape to recover the intrinsic source structure and the scattering screen affecting the data. We successfully recover both the screen and the source in a wide range of simulated cases, including the speed of a moving screen at 230 GHz. Particularly, we can recover a ring structure in scattered data at 86 GHz. Our analysis demonstrates the huge potential that recent advancements in imaging and optimization algorithms offer to recover image structures, even in weakly constrained and degenerated, possibly multi-modal settings. The successful reconstruction of the scattering screen opens the window to event horizon scale works on the Galactic Center at 86G Hz up to 116 GHz, and the study of the scattering screen itself.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_16257
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multiobjective optimization for scattering mitigation and scattering screen reconstruction in VLBI observations of the Galactic Center
Mus, Alejandro
Toscano, Teresa
Müller, Hendrik
Zhao, Guang-Yao
Lobanov, Andrei
Goddi, Ciriaco
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Optimization and Control
Imaging reconstruction of interferometric data is a hard ill-posed inverse problem. Its difficulty is increased when observing the Galactic Center, which is obscured by a scattering screen. This is because the scattering breaks the one-to-one correspondence between images and visibilities. Solving the scattering problem is one of the biggest challenges in radio imaging of the Galactic Center. In this work we present a novel strategy to mitigate its effect and constrain the screen itself using multiobjective optimization. We exploit the potential of evolutionary algorithms to describe the optimization landscape to recover the intrinsic source structure and the scattering screen affecting the data. We successfully recover both the screen and the source in a wide range of simulated cases, including the speed of a moving screen at 230 GHz. Particularly, we can recover a ring structure in scattered data at 86 GHz. Our analysis demonstrates the huge potential that recent advancements in imaging and optimization algorithms offer to recover image structures, even in weakly constrained and degenerated, possibly multi-modal settings. The successful reconstruction of the scattering screen opens the window to event horizon scale works on the Galactic Center at 86G Hz up to 116 GHz, and the study of the scattering screen itself.
title Multiobjective optimization for scattering mitigation and scattering screen reconstruction in VLBI observations of the Galactic Center
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.16257