A Taste Of Inverse Problems

Inverse problems need to be solved in order to properly interpret indirect measurements. Often, inverse problems are ill-posed and sensitive to data errors. Therefore one has to incorporate some sort of regularization to reconstruct significant information from the given data. A Taste of Inverse Problems: Basic Theory and Examples?presents the main achievements that have emerged in regularization theory over the past 50 years, focusing on linear ill-posed problems and the development of methods that can be applied to them. Some of this material has previously appeared only in journal articles. This book rigorously discusses state-of-the-art inverse problems theory, focusing on numerically relevant aspects and omitting subordinate generalizations; presents diverse real-world applications, important test cases, and possible pitfalls; and treats these applications with the same rigor and depth as the theory.

Problem solving in mathematics is often thought of as a one way process. For example: take two numbers and multiply them together. However for each problem there is also an inverse problem which runs in the opposite direction: now take a number and find a pair of factors. Such problems are considerably more important, in mathematics and throughout science, than they might first appear. This book concentrates on these inverse problems and how they can be usefully introduced to undergraduate students. A historical introduction sets the scene and gives a cultural context for the rest of the book. Chapters dealing with inverse problems in calculus, differential equations and linear algebra then follow and the book concludes with suggestions for further reading. Whatever their own field of expertise, this will be an essential purchase for anyone interested in the teaching of mathematics.

Inverse problems arise in many disciplines and hold great importance to practical applications. However, sound new methods are needed to solve these problems. Over the past few years, Japanese and Korean mathematicians have obtained a number of very interesting and unique results in inverse problems. Inverse Problems and Related Topics compi

Inverse Problems is a monograph which contains a self-contained presentation of the theory of several major inverse problems and the closely related results from the theory of ill-posed problems. The book is aimed at a large audience which include graduate students and researchers in mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences and in the area of numerical analysis.

The Inverse and Ill-Posed Problems Series is a series of monographs publishing postgraduate level information on inverse and ill-posed problems for an international readership of professional scientists and researchers. The series aims to publish works which involve both theory and applications in, e.g., physics, medicine, geophysics, acoustics, electrodynamics, tomography, and ecology.

This book introduces the reader to the area of inverse problems. The study of inverse problems is of vital interest to many areas of science and technology such as geophysical exploration, system identification, nondestructive testing and ultrasonic tomography. The aim of this book is twofold: in the first part, the reader is exposed to the basic notions and difficulties encountered with ill-posed problems. Basic properties of regularization methods for linear ill-posed problems are studied by means of several simple analytical and numerical examples. The second part of the book presents two special nonlinear inverse problems in detail - the inverse spectral problem and the inverse scattering problem. The corresponding direct problems are studied with respect to existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence on parameters. Then some theoretical results as well as numerical procedures for the inverse problems are discussed. The choice of material and its presentation in the book are new, thus making it particularly suitable for graduate students. Basic knowledge of real analysis is assumed. In this new edition, the Factorization Method is included as one of the prominent members in this monograph. Since the Factorization Method is particularly simple for the problem of EIT and this field has attracted a lot of attention during the past decade a chapter on EIT has been added in this monograph as Chapter 5 while the chapter on inverse scattering theory is now Chapter 6.The main changes of this second edition compared to the first edition concern only Chapters 5 and 6 and the Appendix A. Chapter 5 introduces the reader to the inverse problem of electrical impedance tomography.

The theory of ill-posed problems originated in an unusual way. As a rule, a new concept is a subject in which its creator takes a keen interest. The concept of ill-posed problems was introduced by Hadamard with the comment that these problems are physically meaningless and not worthy of the attention of serious researchers. Despite Hadamard's pessimistic forecasts, however, his unloved "child" has turned into a powerful theory whose results are used in many fields of pure and applied mathematics. What is the secret of its success? The answer is clear. Ill-posed problems occur everywhere and it is unreasonable to ignore them. Unlike ill-posed problems, inverse problems have no strict mathematical definition. In general, they can be described as the task of recovering a part of the data of a corresponding direct (well-posed) problem from information about its solution. Inverse problems were first encountered in practice and are mostly ill-posed. The urgent need for their solution, especially in geological exploration and medical diagnostics, has given powerful impetus to the development of the theory of ill-posed problems. Nowadays, the terms "inverse problem" and "ill-posed problem" are inextricably linked to each other. Inverse and ill-posed problems are currently attracting great interest. A vast literature is devoted to these problems, making it necessary to systematize the accumulated material. This book is the first small step in that direction. We propose a classification of inverse problems according to the type of equation, unknowns and additional information. We consider specific problems from a single position and indicate relationships between them. The problems relate to different areas of mathematics, such as linear algebra, theory of integral equations, integral geometry, spectral theory and mathematical physics. We give examples of applied problems that can be studied using the techniques we describe. This book was conceived as a textbook on the foundations of the theory of inverse and ill-posed problems for university students. The author's intention was to explain this complex material in the most accessible way possible. The monograph is aimed primarily at those who are just beginning to get to grips with inverse and ill-posed problems but we hope that it will be useful to anyone who is interested in the subject.

This volume presents the proceedings of a workshop on Inverse Problems and Applications and a special session on Inverse Boundary Problems and Applications. Inverse problems arise in practical situations, such as medical imaging, exploration geophysics, and non-destructive evaluation where measurements made in the exterior of a body are used to deduce properties of the hidden interior. A large class of inverse problems arise from a physical situation modeled by partial differential equations. The inverse problem is to determine some coefficients of the equation given some information about solutions. Analysis of such problems is a fertile area for interaction between pure and applied mathematics. This interplay is well represented in this volume where several theoretical and applied aspects of inverse problems are considered. The book includes articles on a broad range of inverse problems including the inverse conductivity problem, inverse problems for Maxwell's equations, time reversal mirrors, ultrasound using elastic pressure waves, inverse problems arising in the environment, inverse scattering for the three-body problem, and optical tomography. Also included are several articles on unique continuation and on the study of propagation of singularities for hyperbolic equations in anisotropic media. This volume is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in inverse problems and applications.

Inverse problems are immensely important in modern science and technology. However, the broad mathematical issues raised by inverse problems receive scant attention in the university curriculum. This book aims to remedy this state of affairs by supplying an accessible introduction, at a modest mathematical level, to the alluring field of inverse problems. Many models of inverse problems from science and engineering are dealt with and nearly a hundred exercises, of varying difficulty, involving mathematical analysis, numerical treatment, or modelling of inverse problems, are provided. The main themes of the book are: causation problem modeled as integral equations; model identification problems, posed as coefficient determination problems in differential equations; the functional analytic framework for inverse problems; and a survey of the principal numerical methods for inverse problems. An extensive annotated bibliography furnishes leads on the history of inverse problems and a guide to the frontiers of current research.