Maxwell's equations with a polarization independent wave velocity: direct and inverse problems (Q2643836)

The article concerns direct and inverse boundary value problems for Maxwell's equations on a compact Riemannian manifold \(M\) with boundary. For the particular case of a bounded smooth domain \(M\subset\mathbb{R}^3\), Maxwell's equations read \[ \text{curl}\,E(x,t)=-B_t(x,t),\quad\text{curl}\,H(x,t)=D_t(x,t) \] with the constitutive relations \[ D(x,t)= \varepsilon(x)E(x,t),\quad B(x,t)=\mu(x)H(x,t) \] (where \(\varepsilon(x)\) and \(\mu(x)\) are positive \(3\times 3\)-matrices) and the initial-boundary conditions are \[ E(x,0)=H(x,0)=0,\;n\times E=f\quad\text{(on } \partial M\times\mathbb{R}_+) \] (where \(n\) is the unit normal vector to \(\partial M)\). The inverse problem is the problem of describing parameters \(\varepsilon(x)\) and \(\mu(x)\) having the same admittance map \(Z\:n \times E\mapsto n\times H\). It is shown that in the isotropic case, the boundary data given on an open part of the boundary determine both the domain and the (constants) \(\varepsilon\) and \(\mu\) uniquely. In general, the analysis is based on a geometrical formulation of the problem in terms of Riemannian geometry. Maxwell's equations and the material parameters \(\varepsilon(x)\), \(\mu(x)\) are reformulated on terms of differential forms and Hodge-type operators \(*_0\) (the primary metric), \(*_\varepsilon\) and \(*_\mu\) (metrics related to \(\varepsilon (x),\mu(x))\). The article is adressed to the independent wave velocity case \(g_\varepsilon^{ij}=\alpha^4g^{ij}_\mu\) where \(\alpha=\alpha (x)>0\) is a proportionality factor (the scalar wave impedance). The main result concerns the global reconstruction of the shape of the 3-manifold \(M\), the underlying metric \(g_0\) on \(M\) and the scalar wave impedance \(\alpha\) (which is equivalent to the reconstruction of \(\varepsilon\) and \(\mu\)). Moreover, for the anisotropic inverse problem for bounded domains in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), the non-uniqueness is characterized by the class of symmetries of the material tensors. Very clear exposition.