Regularization of an inverse Stefan problem (Q1907738)

The melting of a thin block of ice occupying an interval \(b\leq x< \infty\) is described by the one-dimensional Stefan problem \[ \partial^2 u/\partial x^2- \partial u/\partial t= 0\quad\text{in} \quad 0< x< s(t),\quad 0< t, \] along with usual boundary conditions and initial data. The purpose of this paper is to produce a regularized solution with an error estimate. In fact, it is shown that if the discrepancy between the prescribed interface \(s(t)\) and its exact value is of the order \(\varepsilon\), then under some smoothness assumptions on the exact solution, the discrepancy between the regularized solution and the exact solution (the heat flux \(v(t)= {\partial u\over \partial x} (0, t)\)) is of the order \(\ln(1/\varepsilon)^{- 1}\) or \(\varepsilon^{1/2}\) as \(\varepsilon\) tends to \(0\). The problem is first reduced to an integral equation. In order to regularize the problem, we convert it into an equation of convolution type for which error estimates are derived.