A method for reconstructing phase images is described. Phase reconstruction
is formulated as an optimization problem, finding the ground state of a lo
cally constrained, finite size, spin-L Ising model under a non-uniform magn
etic field. The optimization problem is solved by simulated tempering. Expe
riments on synthetic phase images show the effectiveness of the proposed al
gorithm. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.