Inverse Problems

This textbook is an introduction to the subject of inverse problems with an emphasis on practical solution methods and applications from geophysics. The treatment is mathematically rigorous, relying on calculus and linear algebra only; familiarity with more advanced mathematical theories like functional analysis is not required.

This book is a self-contained account of the method based on Carleman estimates for inverse problems of determining spatially varying functions of differential equations of the hyperbolic type by non-overdetermining data of solutions. The formulation is different from that of Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps and can often prove the global uniqueness and Lipschitz stability even with a single measurement.

This volume examines some recent advances in inverse problems, new aspects of their mathematical modeling of inverse problems regarding in relation to their applications in physical systems and used the computational methods used.

This book presents a systematic exposition of the main ideas and methods in treating inverse problems for PDEs arising in basic mathematical models, though it makes no claim to being exhaustive. Mathematical models of most physical phenomena are governed by initial and boundary value problems for PDEs, and inverse problems governed by these equations arise naturally in nearly all branches of science and engineering.