Learning nonlocal regularization operators

A learning approach for determining which operator from a class of nonlocal operators is optimal for the regularization of an inverse problem is investigated. The considered class of nonlocal operators is motivated by the use of squared fractional order Sobolev seminorms as regularization operators. First fundamental results from the theory of regularization with local operators are extended to the nonlocal case. Then a framework based on a bilevel optimization strategy is developed which allows to choose nonlocal regularization operators from a given class which i) are optimal with respect to a suitable performance measure on a training set, and ii) enjoy particularly favorable properties. Results from numerical experiments are also provided.