An Inverse Problem in Elastostatics

This paper assembles a variety of methods which have been devisedfor acoustic and elastic wave propagation inverse problems andadapts them to the problem of determining the shear modulusprofile of an elastic half-space from a knowledge of the torsionaldeflection and shear stress distributions on the surface. Methodsinclude the reduction to a Gel'fand-Levitan integral equation,for which a fast numerical algorithm is presented; a methodbased on modelling the half-space as a layered medium; identificationof the medium as a member of a family for which a closed formsolution is possible; a Green's function approach for a mediumwith small variations from uniformity.