Inverse coefficient problem for a nonlinear differential equation and an iterative solution method (Q1375643)

This paper considers the determination of a solution dependent unknown coefficient in a nonautonomous, nonlinear second-order ordinary differential equation with a parameter. By integrating the equation once with respect to the independent variable the authors obtain an integro-differential equation which implicitly relates the solution and the unknown coefficient. This equation is combined with the overspecified side conditions in the problem to define a functional mapping acting on an admissible set of coefficients. Various estimates are derived which imply that the functional mapping is a contraction on a subset of the admissible coefficients. This leads naturally to an iteration procedure for approximating the solution to the inverse problem. A simple example is provided. Aside from mentioning that the iteration procedure involves differentiating numerical data, no discussion of stability is included.