On the reconstruction of the macroobservable

Ralf Der

Alberto Barchielli, L. Lanz, G. Lupieri

Hyunju Lee, Jeonghwa Lee, Kyungtaek Jun

Quantum optimization for computed tomography (CT) reconstruction is constrained by the number of binary variables required for image representation, making direct whole-image quantum reconstruction difficult for large or structurally complex objects. We propose a hybrid region-of-interest (ROI) refinement framework in which a coarse global image is first reconstructed by quantum tomographic reconstruction (QTR) and quantum compressed sensing tomographic reconstruction (QCSTR), filtered backprojection (FBP), or simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART), and quantum optimization is then applied only to the selected ROI through a residual projection-image formulation. This strategy reduces the effective QUBO size while preserving high-fidelity reconstruction in the target region. Experiments on three discrete phantom samples show that both QTR/QCSTR+QTR/QCSTR and SART+QTR/QCSTR achieve accurate ROI reconstruction for moderate-size cases under a reduced-angle setting. For the largest and most complex sample, the quality of the coarse global estimate becomes critical, and the best result is obtained when a stable classical coarse reconstruction is combined with second-stage ROI-only QTR/QCSTR. Among the tested pipelines, SART+QTR/QCSTR achieves the lowest average ROI RMSE and MAE. The results indicate that the practical advantage of quantum-assisted CT reconstruction lies in reserving quantum optimization for local refinement while using classical reconstruction to stabilize the global background.

H. J. Borchers

Philipp Berghofer

The program of reconstructing quantum theory based on information-theoretic principles enjoys much popularity in the foundations of physics. Surprisingly, this endeavor has only received very little attention in philosophy. Here I argue that this should change. This is because, on the one hand, reconstructions can help us to better understand quantum mechanics, and, on the other hand, reconstructions are themselves in need of interpretation. My overall objective, thus, is to motivate the reconstruction program and to show why philosophers should care. My specific aims are threefold. (i) Clarify the relationship between reconstructing and interpreting quantum mechanics, (ii) show how the informational reconstruction of quantum theory puts pressure on standard realist interpretations, (iii) defend the quantum reconstruction program against possible objections.