Fredholm integral equations of the first kind and topological information theory

Abstract

The Fredholm integral equations of the first kind are a classical example of ill-posed problem in the sense of Hadamard. If the integral operator is self-adjoint and admits a set of eigenfunctions, then a formal solution can be written in terms of eigenfunction expansions. One of the possible methods of regularization consists in truncating this formal expansion after restricting the class of admissible solutions through a-priori global bounds. In this paper we reconsider various possible methods of truncation from the viewpoint of the $\varepsilon$-coverings of compact sets.