Total Generalized Variation

The novel concept of total generalized variation of a function u is introduced and some of its essential properties are proved. Differently from the bounded variation semi-norm, the new concept involves higher order derivatives of u. Numerical examples illustrate the high quality of this functional as a regularization term for mathematical imaging problems. In particular this functional selectively regularizes on different regularity levels and, as a side effect, does not lead to a staircasing effect.