Carleman estimate for a strongly damped wave equation and applications to an inverse problem

In this paper, we establish a Carleman estimate for a strongly damped wave equation in order to solve a coefficient inverse problems of retrieving a stationary potential from a single time‐dependent Neumann boundary measurement on a suitable part of the boundary. This coefficient inverse problem is for a strongly damped wave equation. We prove the uniqueness and the local stability results for this inverse problem. The proof of the results relies on Carleman estimate and a certain energy estimates for hyperbolic equation with strongly damped term. Moreover, this method could be used for a similar inverse problem for an integro‐differential equation with hyperbolic memory kernel. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Uniqueness and stability in determining the speed of propagation of second-order hyperbolic equation with variable coefficients

One of the basic inverse problems in an anisotropic media is the determination of coefficients in a bounded domain with a single measurement. We consider the problem of finding the coefficient of the second derivatives in a second-order hyperbolic equation with variable coefficients.

Under a weak regularity assumption and a geometrical condition on the metric, we prove the uniqueness in a multidimensional hyperbolic inverse problem with a single measurement. Moreover we show that our uniqueness results yield the Lipschitz stability estimate in L ² space for solution to the inverse problem under consideration.     

Inverse problem for a quasilinear hyperbolic equation with a nonlocal boundary condition containing a delay argument

We consider a problem for a quasilinear hyperbolic equation with a nonlocal condition that contains a retarded argument. By reducing this problem to a nonlinear integrofunctional equation, we prove the existence and uniqueness theorem for its solution. We pose an inverse problem of finding a solution-dependent coefficient of the equation on the basis of additional information on the solution; the information is given at a fixed point in space and is a function of time. We prove the uniqueness theorem for the solution of the inverse problem. The proof is based on the derivation and analysis of an integro-functional equation for the difference of two solutions of the inverse problem.     

Global Uniqueness and Stability for a Class of Multidimensional Inverse Hyperbolic Problems with Two Unknowns

In this paper we obtain the global uniqueness and stability estimate for a class of multidimensional inverse hyperbolic problems of determining a source term and an initial value from a single measurement of boundary values or interior values. By means of a suitable transformation, we reduce the problem to the observability inequalities for nonconservative hyperbolic equations with memory. Then, using a compactness/uniqueness argument, we can prove the uniqueness and the stability by a new kind of unique continuation property of a nonlocal hyperbolic equation.     

Inverse problems for a quasilinear hyperbolic equation in the case of moving observation point

We consider two inverse coefficient problems for a quasilinear hyperbolic equation, where the additional information used for finding the coefficients is the values of the solution on some curve. (This corresponds to measurements performed at a moving observation point.) The unknown coefficient depends on the space variable in the first inverse problem and on the solution of the equation in the second inverse problem. We prove theorems of uniqueness of solution to the inverse problems.     

半线性波方程的一个反问题

利用压缩映像原理讨论了一类半线性波方程确定未知系数的反问题,文中给出了该问题解的存在性、唯一性和稳定性。     

Stability of inverse problems in an infinite slab with partial data

In this paper, we study the stability of two inverse boundary value problems in an infinite slab with partial data. These problems have been studied by Li and Uhlmann for the case of the Schrödinger equation and by Krupchyk, Lassas, and Uhlmann for the case of the magnetic Schrödinger equation. Here, we quantify the method of uniqueness proposed by Li and Uhlmann and prove a log–log stability estimate for the inverse problems associated to the Schrödinger equation. The boundary measurements considered in these problems are modeled by partial knowledge of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map: in the first inverse problem, the corresponding Dirichlet and Neumann data are known on different boundary hyperplanes of the slab; in the second inverse problem, they are known on the same boundary hyperplane of the slab.     

Recovery of the unknown coefficients in a two-dimensional hyperbolic equation

In this paper, an inverse boundary value problem for a two-dimensional hyperbolic equation with overdetermination conditions is studied. To investigate the solvability of the original problem, we first consider an auxiliary inverse boundary value problem and prove its equivalence to the original problem in a certain sense. We then use the Fourier method to reduce such an equivalent problem to a system of integral equations. Furthermore, we prove the existence and uniqueness theorem for the auxiliary problem by the contraction mappings principle. Based on the equivalency of these problems, the existence and uniqueness theorem for the classical solution of the original inverse problem is proved. Some discussions on the numerical solutions for this inverse problem are presented including some numerical examples.     

Linearizing non-linear inverse problems and an application to inverse backscattering

We propose an abstract approach to prove local uniqueness and conditional Hölder stability to non-linear inverse problems by linearization. The main condition is that, in addition to the injectivity of the linearization A, we need a stability estimate for A as well. That condition is satisfied in particular, if A^∗A is an elliptic pseudo-differential operator. We apply this scheme to show uniqueness and Hölder stability for the inverse backscattering problem for the acoustic equation near a constant sound speed.     

Determination of coefficients for a dissipative wave equation via boundary measurements

In this paper we consider the inverse problem of recovering the viscosity coefficient in a dissipative wave equation via boundary measurements. We obtain stability estimates by considering all possible measurements implemented on the boundary. We also prove that the viscosity coefficient is uniquely determined by a finite number of measurements on the boundary provided that it belongs to a given finite dimensional vector space.     

Stability estimate in determination of a coefficient in transmission wave equation by boundary observation

In this paper, we study the global stability in determination of a coefficient in the transmission wave equation from data of the solution in a subboundary over a time interval. Providing regular initial data, we prove a hölder stability estimate in the inverse problem with a single measurement. Moreover, the exponent in the stability estimate depends on the regularity of initial data.     

Identification of the zeroth-order coefficient and fractional order in a time-fractional reaction-diffusion-wave equation

In this paper, we investigate an inverse problem of recovering the zeroth-order coefficient and fractional order simultaneously in a time-fractional reaction-diffusion-wave equation by using boundary measurement data from both of uniqueness and numerical method. We prove the uniqueness of the considered inverse problem and the Lipschitz continuity of the forward operator. Then the inverse problem is formulated into a variational problem by the Tikhonov-type regularization. Based on the continuity of the forward operator, we prove that the minimizer of the Tikhonov-type functional exists and converges to the exact solution under an a priori choice of regularization parameter. The steepest descent method combined with Nesterov acceleration is adopted to solve the variational problem. Three numerical examples are presented to support the efficiency and rationality of our proposed method.     

Inverse problem for structural acoustic interaction

We consider an inverse problem of determining a source term for a structural acoustic partial differential equation (PDE) model that is comprised of a two- or a three-dimensional interior acoustic wave equation coupled to an elastic plate equation. The coupling takes place across a boundary interface. For this PDE system, we obtain uniqueness and stability estimates for the source term from a single measurement of boundary values of the “structure” (acceleration of the elastic plate). The proof of uniqueness is based on a Carleman estimate (first version) of the wave problem within the chamber. The proof of stability relies on three main points: (i) a more refined Carleman estimate (second version) and its resulting implication, a continuous observability-type estimate; (ii) a compactness/uniqueness argument; (iii) an operator theoretic approach for obtaining the needed regularity in terms of the initial conditions.     

Global existence and stability for an inverse coefficient problem for a semilinear parabolic equation

We establish the global existence, the uniqueness and the stability for an inverse coefficient problem for a semilinear parabolic equation. This problem is motivated by an application related to laser material treatments, and our result is a continuation of the previous work by Hömberg and Yamamoto (Inverse Problems 22:1855–1867, 2006). We transform our inverse problem into a nonlinear integral equation of second kind, which is solved locally by the contraction mapping principle. Next we prove that the maximal solution of the integral equation is a global solution.     

Parameter identification by optimization method for a pollution problem in porous media

In the present work, we investigate the inverse problem of reconstructing the parameter of an integro-differential parabolic equation, which comes from pollution problems in porous media, when the final observation is given. We use the optimal control framework to establish both the existence and necessary condition of the minimizer for the cost functional. Furthermore, we prove the stability and the local uniqueness of the minimizer. Some numerical results will be presented and discussed.     

Inverse coefficient problem for a wave equation in a bounded domain

The nonlinear inverse problem for a wave equation is investigated in a three-dimensional bounded domain subject to the Dirichlet boundary condition. Given a family of solutions to the equation defined on a closed surface within the original domain, it is required to reconstruct the coefficient determining the velocity of sound in the medium. The solutions used for this purpose correspond to the acoustic medium perturbations localized in the neighborhood of a certain closed surface. The inverse problem is reduced to a linear integral equation of the first kind, and the uniqueness of the solution to this equation is established. Numerical results are presented.     

An Optimal Control Method for Nonlinear Inverse Diffusion Coefficient Problem

This paper investigates the solution of a parameter identification problem associated with the two-dimensional heat equation with variable diffusion coefficient. The singularity of the diffusion coefficient results in a nonlinear inverse problem which makes theoretical analysis rather difficult. Using an optimal control method, we formulate the problem as a minimization problem and prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution in weighted Sobolev spaces. The necessary conditions for the existence of the minimizer are also given. The results can be extended to more general parabolic equations with singular coefficients.     

A trace theorem for solutions of the wave equation,and the remote determination of acoustic sources

The determination of sources of acoustic wave motion in several dimensions from remote measurements is of considerable interest in many applications, and the underlying mathematical problem is quite ill-posed. We separate the source determination problem into a control problem for the wave equation and an inverse mixed initial-boundary value problem, and concentrate on the latter, in which the initial data for a solution of the wave equation are to be determined from its trace on a time-like hyperplane. Though the geometry of this problem is simple, it exhibits some of the central analytic difficulties of more complex problems. We prove a uniqueness theorem, give examples of instability, establish regularity properties of the trace, and locate noncompact classes of stable functionals. The existence of these noncompact classes shows that the problem is “partially well-posed”, i.e. that smoothing in all directions is not required to regularize the problem, and distinguishes it from most other ill-posed problems, such as backwards diffusion and analytic continuation.     

Identifying the radiative coefficient of an evolutional type heat conduction equation by optimization method

This paper studies an evolutional type inverse problem of identifying the radiative coefficient of heat conduction equation when the over-specified data is given. Problems of this type have important applications in several fields of applied science. Being different from other ordinary inverse coefficient problems, the unknown coefficient in this paper depends on both the space variable x and the time t. Based on the optimal control framework, the inverse problem is transformed into an optimization problem and a new cost functional is constructed in the paper. The existence, uniqueness and stability of the minimizer of the cost functional are proved, and the necessary conditions which must be satisfied by the minimizer are also given. The results obtained in the paper are interesting and useful, and can be extended to more general parabolic equations.     

Stability estimate for an inverse problem for the wave equation in a magnetic field

In this article, we prove stability estimate of the inverse problem of determining the magnetic field entering the magnetic wave equation in a bounded smooth domain in ? ^d from boundary observations. This information is enclosed in the hyperbolic (dynamic) Dirichlet-to-Neumann map associated to the solutions to the magnetic wave equation. We prove in dimension d ≥ 2 that the knowledge of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for the magnetic wave equation measured on the boundary determines uniquely the magnetic field and we prove a Hölder-type stability in determining the magnetic field induced by the magnetic potential.