Null controllability for the heat equation with singular inverse-square potentials

We prove the null controllability of the heat equation perturbed by a singular inverse-square potential arising in quantum mechanics and combustion theory. This is done within the range of subcritical coefficients of the singular potential, provided the control acts on an annular set around the singularity. Our proof uses a splitting argument on the domain, decomposition in spherical harmonics, new Carleman inequalities and refined Hardy inequalities.     

Stability of Inverse Problems for Ultrahyperbolic Equations

In this paper, the authors consider inverse problems of determining a coefficient or a source term in an ultrahyperbolic equation by some lateral boundary data. The authors prove Hlder estimates which are global and local and the key tool is Carleman estimate.     

Carleman Estimates for Parabolic Equations with Nonhomogeneous Boundary Conditions

The authors prove a new Carleman estimate for general linear second order parabolic equation with nonhomogeneous boundary conditions. On the basis of this estimate, improved Carleman estimates for the Stokes system and for a system of parabolic equations with a penalty term are obtained. This system can be viewed as an approximation of the Stokes system.     

Global Uniqueness and Stability for an Inverse Plate Problem

This paper deals with the global uniqueness and stability of an inverse problem for the plate equation. By means of a suitable transformation, the problem is reduced to the observability estimate for the plate equations with memory. The main tool that we employ is a global Carleman-type estimate. This work was supported by FANEDD of China Project 200119 and by NSFC under Grant 10371084. The author thanks Professor X. Zhang for help.     

Determination of the insolation function in the nonlinear Sellers climate model

We are interested in the climate model introduced by Sellers in 1969 which takes the form of some nonlinear parabolic equation with a degenerate diffusion coefficient. We investigate here some inverse problem issue that consists in recovering the so-called insolation function. We not only solve the uniqueness question but also provide some strong stability result, more precisely unconditional Lipschitz stability in the spirit of the well-known result by Imanuvilov and Yamamoto (1998) [22]. The main novelties rely in the fact that the considered model is degenerate and above all nonlinear. Indeed we provide here one of the first result of Lipschitz stability in a nonlinear case.     

Singular Optimal Control for a Transport-Diffusion Equation

In this paper we consider a transport-diffusion equation with coefficient of diffusion ε > 0 small and coefficient of transport M(x, t). We study the asymptotic behavior of the cost of the null controllability of such a system when ε 0⁺.

If at least one trajectory associated to M(x, t) does not enter the control zone, we prove that this cost explodes exponentially as ε 0⁺. On the other hand, as long as trajectories reach the control region and the controllability time is sufficiently large, we prove that the cost is bounded as ε 0⁺, and moreover decays exponentially as ε 0⁺ as soon as all trajectories cross the boundary.     

Inverse problems with partial data for a Dirac system: A Carleman estimate approach

We prove that the material parameters in a Dirac system with magnetic and electric potentials are uniquely determined by measurements made on a possibly small subset of the boundary. The proof is based on a combination of Carleman estimates for first and second order systems, and involves a reduction of the boundary measurements to the second order case. For this reduction a certain amount of decoupling is required. To effectively make use of the decoupling, the Carleman estimates are established for coefficients which may become singular in the asymptotic limit.     

Two-Dimensional Parabolic Inverse Source Problem with Final Overdetermination in Reproducing Kernel Space

A new method of the reproducing kernel Hilbert space is applied to a twodimensional parabolic inverse source problem with the final overdetermination. The exact and approximate solutions are both obtained in a reproducing kernel space. The approximate solution and its partial derivatives are proved to converge to the exact solution and its partial derivatives, respectively. A technique is proposed to improve some existing methods. Numerical results show that the method is of high precision, and confirm the robustness of our method for reconstructing source parameter.     

Conditional Stability Estimates for Ill-Posed PDE Problems by Using Interpolation

The focus of this article is on conditional stability estimates for ill-posed inverse problems in partial differential equations. Conditional stability estimates have been obtained in related literature by a couple different methods. In this article, we propose a method called interpolation method, which is based on interpolation in variable Hilbert scales. We provide the theoretical background of this method and show that optimal conditional stability estimates are obtained. The capabilities of our method are illustrated by a comprehensive collection of different inverse and ill-posed PDE problems containing elliptic and parabolic problems, one source problem and the problem of analytic continuation.     

Inverse Problems for Time-Dependent Singular Heat Conductivities: Multi-Dimensional Case

We consider an inverse boundary value problem for the heat equation ? _t u = div (γ? _x u) in (0, T) × Ω, u = f on (0, T) × ?Ω, u| _t=0 = u ₀, in a bounded domain Ω ? ? ⁿ , n ≥ 2, where the heat conductivity γ(t, x) is piecewise constant and the surface of discontinuity depends on time: γ(t, x) = k ² (x ∈ D(t)), γ(t, x) = 1 (x ∈ Ω?D(t)). Fix a direction e* ∈ 𝕊 ^n?1 arbitrarily. Assuming that ?D(t) is strictly convex for 0 ≤ t ≤ T, we show that k and sup {e*·x; x ∈ D(t)} (0 ≤ t ≤ T), in particular D(t) itself, are determined from the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map : f → ?_ν u(t, x)|_{(0, T)×?Ω}. The knowledge of the initial data u ₀ is not used in the proof. If we know min_0≤t≤T (sup _x∈D(t) x·e*), we have the same conclusion from the local Dirichlet-to-Neumann map. Numerical examples of stationary and moving circles inside the unit disk are shown. The results have applications to nondestructive testing. Consider a physical body consisting of homogeneous material with constant heat conductivity except for a moving inclusion with different conductivity. Then the location and shape of the inclusion can be monitored from temperature and heat flux measurements performed at the boundary of the body. Such a situation appears for example in blast furnaces used in ironmaking.     

On Singular Solutions of Boundary Value Problems for Quasilinear Parabolic Equations with Absorption

The existence and nonexistence of non-trivial solutions for the boundary value problemare studied.     

Singular perturbations for variational inequalities with time-dependent constraints

We study an abstract hyperbolic variational inequality with a (small) parameter and with time-dependent subdifferentials in a real Hilbert space. We prove that its solution converges to a solution of a parabolic variational inequality as the parameter tends to zero. We also explain how to apply the abstract theory to concrete unilateral problems.     

Schauder Estimates for Elliptic and Parabolic Equations

In this note the author gives an elementary and simple proof for the Schauder estimates for elliptic and parabolic equations. The proof also applies to nonlinear equations.     

具有未知源的某些非线性伪抛物型方程的反问题

考 虑具有未 知源项的 某些非 线性伪 抛物 型方程 的反演 问题． 首先 将伪抛 物型 方程初 边值问 题化为非线 性发展方 程 Ｃｏｕｃｈ ｙ 问题,然 后,利用半 群理论,论 证发展 方程反问 题解的存 在唯一 性,最后, 利用不 动点方法得到 伪抛物型方程反 问题的可解性     

Local Stability for an Inverse Coefficient Problem of a Fractional Diffusion Equation

Time-fractional diffusion equations are of great interest and importance on describing the power law decay for diffusion in porous media. In this paper, to identify the diffusion rate, i.e., the heterogeneity of medium, the authors consider an inverse coefficient problem utilizing finite measurements and obtain a local Hlder type conditional stability based upon two Carleman estimates for the corresponding differential equations of integer orders.     

双曲型方程具有奇性斜导数的混合问题<英>

本文讨论了2m阶双曲型方程具有奇性斜导数的边值问题。在边界奇点(即不满足Lopatinsky边界条件的点)子流形的一定假设下,证明了所论问题在Sobolev空间H~(s,s)(Q)中解的存在性和唯一性,从而将二阶双曲方程的相应问题的已有的结果(例如[1]、[4—6])推广到了高维的情形。     

Global-in-time Uniform Convergence for Linear Hyperbolic-Parabolic Singular Perturbations

We consider the Cauchy problem εu^″ε ＋ δu′ε ＋ Auε = 0, uε（0） = uo, u′ε（0） = ul, where ε 〉 0, δ 〉 0, H is a Hilbert space, and A is a self-adjoint linear non-negative operator on H with dense domain D（A）. We study the convergence of （uε） to the solution of the limit problem ,δu＇ ＋ Au = 0, u（0） = u0. For initial data （u0, u1） ∈ D（A1/2）× H, we prove global-in-time convergence with respect to strong topologies. Moreover, we estimate the convergence rate in the case where （u0, u1）∈ D（A3/2） ∈ D（A1/2）, and we show that this regularity requirement is sharp for our estimates. We give also an upper bound for ｜u′ε（t）｜ which does not depend on ε.     

Analysis of Discretizations of Parabolic Problems in Pairs of Spaces

We examine single step time discrete approximations to an abstract Cauchy problem considered in a pair of Banach spaces, of which one (space of solutions) is densely embedded in the other (space of initial data). The stability and error analysis of such discretizations is carried out. Our approach is applicable to the analysis of approximations to parabolic PDE problems in various pairs of function spaces arising from practical needs. In the final part of the paper, we present a possible application of our results for studying a semi-discrete version of a model initial-boundary value problem of heat conduction.