Carleman estimate for second order elliptic equations with Lipschitz leading coefficients and jumps at an interface (Q2364113)

The authors prove a local Carleman estimate for a second-order elliptic operator with anisotropic Lipschitz coefficients having a jump across a \(C^{1,1}\) interface. The result is close to that of \textit{J. Le Rousseau} et al. [Anal. PDE 6, No. 7, 1601--1648 (2013; Zbl 1319.47038)], where the Carleman estimate was shown under the regularity assumption that the coefficients are \(C^\infty\) away from a \(C^\infty\) interface. Unlike the above reference, the proof in the paper under review does not rely on the techniques of pseudodifferential operators. Instead they first consider the simple case, where the coefficients depend only on the normal variable, and derive a Carleman estimate directly via Fourier transform. For the general coefficients they rely on approximation and a suitable partition of unity.