The estimation of \(L^ \infty\) diffusion coefficients in the parabolic equations (Q1178543)

The paper is concerned with an estimation problem for the parabolic PDE \[ u_ t-Au=f, \quad u(\cdot,t)\in H^ 1_ 0\bigl(\Omega\bigr),\quad u(\cdot,0)=u_ 0\leqno (1) \] \[ A\varphi=\sum_{\alpha,\beta\leq 1}(- 1)^{\alpha}D^ \alpha \bigl(a_{\alpha\beta}D^ \beta\varphi\bigr),\qquad a_{\alpha\beta}=a_{\beta\alpha}. \] One seeks to determine the matrix of coefficients \(A=(a_{\alpha\beta})\) in such a way that the solution \(u_ A\) of (1) minimizes \[ \int_ \Omega u_ A-v^ 2 dx, \] where \(v\) is an observed function. Existence of solutions (under appropriate bounds on \(A\)) is obtained by using the theory of \(G\)-convergence. It is also suggested a Galerkin finite dimensional approximation of the problem.