Conductivity identification in the heat equation by the heat flux (Q1300032)

The author considers the problem of determining the thermal conductivity of a semi-infinite rod, given the temperature and heat flow at the endpoint. That is, given \(f\) on \([0,T[\) and \(g\) on \(]0,T[\), determine a positive continuous function \(\varphi\) on \([0,T[\) such that the problem \[ \begin{aligned} u_t(x,t)= \varphi(t)u_{xx} (x,t)\quad &\text{on }]0,\infty [\times]0,T[,\\ u(\cdot, 0)=0 \quad &\text{on }[0,\infty[,\\ u(0,\cdot)= f\quad &\text{on }[0,T[,\\ -\varphi (t)u_x(0,t)= g(t)\quad &\text{on }]0,T [\end{aligned} \] has a classical solution \(u\) which satisfies \[ \bigl\|u(x,\cdot)\bigr\|_\infty+\bigl\|u_x(x,\cdot) \bigr\|_\infty= O(e^{x^{\alpha}}) \quad\text{as }x\to\infty, \] with \(\alpha<2\). Earlier works on this problem assumed that \(f\) is nondecreasing, but the present author assumes instead that \(g>0\) and, for some \(\mu>0\), \[ \lim_{t\to 0}t^{1-\mu}f'(t)>0\quad\text{and}\quad\lim_{t\to 0}t^{{1 \over 2}-\mu} g(t)>0. \] Along with some smoothness hypotheses, these assumptions guarantee the existence and uniqueness of a solution \(\varphi\).