Source function from two-particle correlation function through entropy-regularized Richardson-Lucy deblurring

Abstract

Source functions are obtained from $p$-$p$ and $d$--$\alpha$ correlation functions by applying the Richardson-Lucy (RL) deblurring to the Koonin-Pratt (KP) equation. To prevent fitting of noise in the correlation function, total-variation (TV) regularization is employed that has been effective in ordinary image restoration. TV alone cannot ensure normalization of the source functions. To ensure the latter, we propose a maximum-entropy regularized RL algorithm (MEM-RL). We outline the MEM-RL formalism and optimization strategy for the KP equation, demonstrating its effectiveness on both simulated and experimental data, including the $p$-$p$ and $d$-$\alpha$ correlation functions.