Solvability of a class of parabolic inverse problems (Q1924504)

This paper considers inverse problems in parabolic partial differential equations. More precisely, a pair of functions \((u(x,t),p(t))\) solving the problem \[ u_t= L(u,p) \quad \text{in } \Omega \times(0,T], \] \[ Bu(x,t)= g(x,t),\quad(x,t) \in\partial\Omega \times[0,T], \qquad u(x,0)= u_0(x), \quad x\in \Omega \] is to be identified, where an extra measurement \(u(x_0,t) =h(t)\), \(t\in[0,T]\), at a fixed interior or boundary point \(x_0\) is given and where \(L\) forms an elliptic operator. A couple of local and global existence results for this inverse problem are established. In this context, theorems ensuring the unique existence of solutions for the direct parabolic initial boundary value problem are proven under specific assumptions.