Free boundary methods and non-scattering phenomena (Q2234128)

Given a bounded, open set \(\Omega \subset \mathbb R^n\), \(n \geq 2\), the authors study the following problem: for an obstacle \(D\) with \(\overline D \subset \Omega\), does there exist a bounded potential \(q\) supported on \(D\) such that there exist nontrivial solutions \(u_q, u_0\) of \[ (\Delta + \lambda^2 + q) u_q = 0 \quad \text{and} \quad (\Delta + \lambda^2) u_0 = 0 \quad \text{in}~\Omega \] subject to the condition \(u_q - u_0 \in H_0^2 (\Omega)\)? Here \(\lambda\) is fixed and it is asked for the special situation where \(q = h \chi_D\) for a function \(h\) bounded away from zero near \(\partial D\). If \(\partial \Omega\) is sufficiently regular, this question may be rewritten as follows: Does there exist a non-trivial function \(f\) on \(\partial \Omega\) and a potential \(q\) of the above form such that the Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps for \(\Delta + \lambda^2\) and \(\Delta + \lambda^2 + q\) coincide? The question is therefore closely related to Calderón's inverse conductivity problem. It has, moreover, a scattering-theoretic interpretation: if the above problem is non-trivially solvable then the incident wave \(u_0\) does not scatter. As the first main result it is shown that if \(D\) has real-analytic boundary and \(\lambda^2\) is not a Dirichlet eigenvalue of \(- \Delta\) in \(D\), then there exists a function \(h\) such that the above problem is non-trivially solvable. Secondly, a class of obstacles admitting cusps, called quadrature domains, is specified for which the problem still is non-trivially solvable. Furthermore, necessary conditions for solvability in terms of regularity properties of the boundary of \(D\) are provided.