Uniqueness of the solution to the inverse heat conduction problem with a piecewise constant coefficient (Q1898602)

The uniqueness of the solution of the inverse heat conducting problem with a piecewise constant coefficient is investigated. Problems of the determination of a piecewise constant coefficient of thermal conductivity are encountered in studying heat transfer processes in layered media. We consider the following boundary value problem \[ u_t(x,t) = k_j u_{xx} (x,t),\;x_{j - 1} < x < x_j, \;k_j > 0, \;j = 1, \ldots, l, \;x_0 = 0, \;t > 0,\quad u_x (0,t) = 0, \] \[ u(x_j - 0,t) = u(x_j + 0,t), k_j u_x(x_j - 0,t) = k_{j + 1} u_x(x_j + 0,t), j = 1, \ldots, l - 1, t > 0, \] \[ u(x_l,t) + Bk_l u_x(x_l,t) = \mu (t),\;0 < B < + \infty,\;t > 0,\;u(x,0) = 0,\;x \in [0,x_l], \] where \(\mu (t) \in C^2 [0, \infty)\), \(\mu (0) = 0\), \(\mu (t) \not \equiv 0\) for \(t \geq 0\), and \(|\mu''(t) |\leq \text{const}\).