title: Statistical mechanics of image restoration and error-correcting codes.
abstract: We develop a statistical-mechanical formulation for image restoration and error-correcting codes. These problems are shown to be equivalent to the Ising spin glass with ferromagnetic bias under random external fields. We prove that the quality of restoration/decoding is maximized at a specific set of parameter values determined by the source and channel properties. For image restoration in a mean-field system a line of optimal performance is shown to exist in the parameter space. These results are illustrated by solving exactly the infinite-range model. The solutions enable us to determine how precisely one should estimate unknown parameters. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to see how far the conclusions from the infinite-range model are applicable to the more realistic two-dimensional case in image restoration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Oh-Okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimori
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Wong