Uniqueness and nonuniqueness of the solution to the problem of determining the source in the heat equation

An initial–boundary value problem for the two-dimensional heat equation with a source is considered. The source is the sum of two unknown functions of spatial variables multiplied by exponentially decaying functions of time. The inverse problem is stated of determining two unknown functions of spatial variables from additional information on the solution of the initial–boundary value problem, which is a function of time and one of the spatial variables. It is shown that, in the general case, this inverse problem has an infinite set of solutions. It is proved that the solution of the inverse problem is unique in the class of sufficiently smooth compactly supported functions such that the supports of the unknown functions do not intersect. This result is extended to the case of a source involving an arbitrary finite number of unknown functions of spatial variables multiplied by exponentially decaying functions of time.     

Inverse problem for the diffusion equation with overdetermination in the form of an external volume potential

An initial-boundary value problem for the diffusion equation with an unknown initial condition is considered. Additional information used for determining the unknown initial condition is an external volume potential whose density is the Laplacian calculated for the solution of the initial-boundary value problem. Uniqueness theorems for the inverse problem are proved in the case when the spatial domain of the initial-boundary value problem is a spherical layer or a parallelepiped.     

Stability estimate for an inverse boundary coefficient problem in thermal imaging

We establish a stability estimate for an inverse boundary coefficient problem in thermal imaging. The inverse problem under consideration consists in the determination of a boundary coefficient appearing in a boundary value problem for the heat equation with Robin boundary condition (we note here that the initial condition is assumed to be a priori unknown). Our stability estimate is of logarithmic type and it is essentially based on a logarithmic estimate for a Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation.     

A method for solving an inverse biharmonic problem

This paper deals with the problem of determining of an unknown coefficient in an inverse boundary value problem. Using a nonconstant overspecified data, it has been shown that the solution to this inverse problem exists and is unique.     

The inverse problem for mathematical models of heart excitation

The inverse problem for mathematical models of heart excitation is stated; this problem is to determine the initial condition in the initial-boundary value problem for an evolutionary system of partial differential equations given the volume potential whose density is determined by the solution to the evolutionary system. It is proved that the solution of the inverse problem in the generic statement is not unique.     

Inverse problem for a quasilinear system of partial differential equations with a nonlocal boundary condition

An initial boundary-value problem for a quasilinear system of partial differential equations with a nonlocal boundary condition involving a delayed argument is considered. The existence of a unique solution to this problem is proved by reducing it to a system of nonlinear integral-functional equations. The inverse problem of finding a solution-dependent coefficient of the system from additional information on a solution component specified at a fixed point of space as a function of time is formulated. The uniqueness of the solution of the inverse problem is proved. The proof is based on the derivation and analysis of an integral-functional equation for the difference between two solutions of the inverse problem.     

Determination of the source parameter in a heat equation with a non-local boundary condition

In this article we consider the inverse problem of identifying a time dependent unknown coefficient in a parabolic problem subject to initial and non-local boundary conditions along with an overspecified condition defined at a specific point in the spatial domain. Due to the non-local boundary condition, the system of linear equations resulting from the backward Euler approximation have a coefficient matrix that is a quasi-tridiagonal matrix. We consider an efficient method for solving the linear system and the predictor–corrector method for calculating the solution and updating the estimate of the unknown coefficient. Two model problems are solved to demonstrate the performance of the methods.     

An inverse non-Fourier heat conduction problem approach for estimating the boundary condition in electronic device

This study is intended to provide an inverse method for estimating the unknown boundary condition T(0,y,t) in a non-Fourier heat conduction electronic device. In this study, finite-difference methods are employed to discretize the problem domain, and then a linear inverse model is constructed to identify the unknown boundary condition. The present approach is to rearrange the matrix forms of the differential governing equations and to estimate the unknown conditions. Then, the linear least-squares method is adopted to obtain the solution.The results show that one measuring point is sufficient to estimate the unknown boundary condition T(0,y,t) without measurement errors. When considering the measurement errors, the magnitudes of the discrepancies in the boundary condition T(0,y,t) are directly proportional to the size of measurement errors. Due to the complicated reflection and interaction of the thermal waves, this phenomenon reflects the fact that the inverse non-Fourier heat conduction problem is different from the inverse Fourier heat conduction problem.In contrast to the traditional approach, the advantage of applying this method in inverse analysis is that no prior information is needed on the functional form of the unknown quantities. In addition, no initial guess is required and the calculation can be done in only one iteration.     

A numerical method for solving an inverse thermoacoustic problem

In this paper, we consider an inverse problem of determining the initial condition of an initial boundary value problem for the wave equation with some additional information about solving a direct initial boundary value problem. The information is obtained from measurements at the boundary of the solution domain. The purpose of our paper is to construct a numerical algorithm for solving the inverse problem by an iterative method called a method of simple iteration (MSI) and to study the resolution quality of the inverse problem as a function of the number and location of measurement points. Three two-dimensional inverse problem formulations are considered. The results of our numerical calculations are presented. It is shown that the MSI decreases the objective functional at each iteration step. However, due to the ill-posedness of the inverse problem the difference between the exact and approximate solutions decreases up to some fixed number k _min, and then monotonically increases. This shows the regularizing properties of the MSI, and the iteration number can be considered a regularization parameter.     

On the Global-in-Time Existence of a Generalized Solution to a Free-Boundary Problem

A problem with free (unknown) boundary for a one-dimensional diffusion-convection equation is considered. The unknown boundary is found from an additional condition on the free boundary. By the extension of the variables, the problem in an unknown domain is reduced to an initial boundary-value problem for a strictly parabolic equation with unknown coefficients in a known domain. These coefficients are found from an additional boundary condition that enables the construction of a nonlinear operator whose fixed points determine a solution of the original problem.

     

一非线性发展方程的反问题

研究一非线性发展方程的未知源项的反演问题.首先,把所考虑的初边值问题化成一等价非线性发展方程的Cauchy问题;然后,利用半群理论,论证反问题解的存在性和唯一性;最后,利用压缩映射不动点方法,得到反问题的可解性.     

Noniterative solution of inverse problems by the linear least square method

In this paper, a noniterative linear least-squares error method developed by Yang and Chen for solving the inverse problems is re-examined. For the method, condition for the existence of a unique solution and the error bound of the resulting inverse solution considering the measurement errors are derived. Though the method was shown to be able to give the unique inverse solution at only one iteration in the literature, however, it is pointed out with two examples that for some inverse problems the method is practically not applicable, once the unavoidable measurement errors are included. The reason behind this is that the so-called reverse matrix for these inverse problems has a huge number of 1-norm, thus, magnifying a small measurement error to an extent that is unacceptable for the resulting inverse solution in a practical sense. In other words, the method fails to yield a reasonable solution whenever applied to an ill-conditioned inverse problem. In such a case, two approaches are recommended for decreasing the very high condition number: (i) by increasing the number of measurements or taking measurements as close as possible to the location at which the to-be-estimated unknown condition is applied, and (ii) by using the singular value decomposition (SVD).     

An inverse problem for a parabolic equation in a free-boundary domain degenerating at the initial time moment

We consider an inverse problem for a one-dimensional parabolic equation with unknown time-dependent major coefficient in a domain whose unknown boundary weakly degenerates at the initial time moment. The conditions for existence and uniqueness of the classical solution of the problem are established.     

A problem of determining a special spatial part of 3D memory kernel in an integro‐differential hyperbolic equation

The inverse problem of determining 2D spatial part of integral member kernel in integro‐differential wave equation is considered. It is supposed that the unknown function is a trigonometric polynomial with respect to the spatial variable y with coefficients continuous with respect to the variable x. Herein, the direct problem is represented by the initial‐boundary value problem for the half‐space x>0 with the zero initial Cauchy data and Neumann boundary condition as Dirac delta function concentrated on the boundary of the domain . Local existence and uniqueness theorem for the solution to the inverse problem is obtained.     

On the uniqueness and stability of solutions of extremal problems for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations

We consider inverse extremal problems for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations. In these problems, one seeks an unknown vector function occurring in the Dirichlet boundary condition for the velocity and the solution of the considered boundary value problem on the basis of the minimization of some performance functional. We derive new a priori estimates for the solutions of the considered extremal problems and use them to prove theorems of the local uniqueness and stability of solutions for specific performance functionals.     

Iterative method for solving an inverse coefficient problem for a hyperbolic equation

For a hyperbolic equation, we consider an inverse coefficient problem in which the unknown coefficient occurs in both the equation and the initial condition. The solution values on a given curve serve as additional information for determining the unknown coefficient. We suggest an iterative method for solving the inverse problem based on reduction to a nonlinear operator equation for the unknown coefficient and prove the uniform convergence of the iterations to a function that is a solution of the inverse problem.     

Stability of supersonic contact discontinuity for two-dimensional steady compressible Euler flows in a finite nozzle

In this paper, we study the stability of supersonic contact discontinuity for the two-dimensional steady compressible Euler flows in a finitely long nozzle of varying cross-sections. We formulate the problem as an initial–boundary value problem with the contact discontinuity as a free boundary. To deal with the free boundary value problem, we employ the Lagrangian transformation to straighten the contact discontinuity and then the free boundary value problem becomes a fixed boundary value problem. We develop an iteration scheme and establish some novel estimates of solutions for the first order of hyperbolic equations on a cornered domain. Finally, by using the inverse Lagrangian transformation and under the assumption that the incoming flows and the nozzle walls are smooth perturbations of the background state, we prove that the original free boundary problem admits a unique weak solution which is a small perturbation of the background state and the solution consists of two smooth supersonic flows separated by a smooth contact discontinuity.     

On the uniqueness and reconstruction for an inverse problem of the fractional diffusion process

Consider an inverse problem for the time-fractional diffusion equation in one dimensional spatial space. The aim is to determine the initial status and heat flux on the boundary simultaneously from heat measurement data given on the other boundary. Using the Laplace transform and the unique extension technique, the uniqueness for this inverse problem is proven. Then we construct a regularizing scheme for the reconstruction of boundary flux for known initial status. The convergence rate of the regularizing solution is established under some a priori information about the exact solution. Moreover, the initial distribution can also be recovered approximately from our regularizing scheme. Finally we present some numerical examples, which show the validity of the proposed reconstruction scheme.     

Elastostatic inverse formulation

In this paper an inverse method for solving elastostatic problems with incomplete boundary conditions is presented. In general, inverse problems are ill-posed boundary value problems whose stability and uniqueness of solution and sensitivity-based formulations require additional constraints. In the development we use the Betti-reciprocal theorem to represent the boundary traction field in terms of the boundary and field displacements in an integral form. Initially, we assume the unknown boundary conditions and deformations required to solve the problem. In this way we equate the work done by the exact solution (unknown) to the work done by an assumed solution. Discretizing the resulting equations and using an iterative procedure each step in the solution process becomes the solution to a well-posed problem. Thus, with sufficient perturbations the correct boundary conditions are reconstructed.     

A conformal mapping algorithm for the Bernoulli free boundary value problem

We propose a new numerical method for the solution of the Bernoulli free boundary value problem for harmonic functions in a doubly connected domain D in where an unknown free boundary Γ₀ is determined by prescribed Cauchy data on Γ₀ in addition to a Dirichlet condition on the known boundary Γ₁. Our main idea is to involve the conformal mapping method as proposed and analyzed by Akduman, Haddar, and Kress for the solution of a related inverse boundary value problem. For this, we interpret the free boundary Γ₀ as the unknown boundary in the inverse problem to construct Γ₀ from the Dirichlet condition on Γ₀ and Cauchy data on the known boundary Γ₁. Our method for the Bernoulli problem iterates on the missing normal derivative on Γ₁ by alternating between the application of the conformal mapping method for the inverse problem and solving a mixed Dirichlet–Neumann boundary value problem in D. We present the mathematical foundations of our algorithm and prove a convergence result. Some numerical examples will serve as proof of concept of our approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.