Fourier Phase Retrieval: Uniqueness and Algorithms

Abstract: The problem of recovering a signal from its phaseless Fourier transform measurements, called Fourier phase retrieval, arises in many applications in engineering and science. Fourier phase retrieval poses fundamental theoretical and algorithmic challenges. In general, there is no unique mapping between a one-dimensional signal and its Fourier magnitude and therefore the problem is ill-posed. Additionally, while almost all multidimensional signals are uniquely mapped to their Fourier magnitude, the performance of existing algorithms is generally not well-understood. In this chapter we survey methods to guarantee uniqueness in Fourier phase retrieval. We then present different algorithmic approaches to retrieve the signal in practice. We conclude by outlining some of the main open questions in this field.