Open AccessOn rational approximation methods for inverse source problems
Author(s) -
Martin Hanke,
William Rundell
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
inverse problems and imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.755
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1930-8345
pISSN - 1930-8337
DOI - 10.3934/ipi.2011.5.185
Subject(s) - inverse problem , laplace transform , laplace's equation , boundary value problem , partial differential equation , boundary (topology) , current (fluid) , mathematical analysis , mathematics , surface (topology) , computer science , physics , geometry , thermodynamics
The basis of most imaging methods is to detect hidden obstacles or inclusions within a body when one can only make measurements on an exterior surface. Such is the ubiquity of these problems, the underlying model can lead to a partial differential equation of any of the major types, but here we focus on the case of steady-state electrostatic or thermal imaging and consider boundary value problems for Laplace's equation. Our inclusions are interior forces with compact support and our data consists of a single measurement of (say) voltage/current or temperature/heat flux on the external boundary. We propose an algorithm that under certain assumptions allows for the determination of the support set of these forces by solving a simpler "equivalent point source" problem, and which uses a Newton scheme to improve the corresponding initial approximation. © 2011 American Institute of Mathematical Sciences