Group preserving scheme for backward heat conduction problems (Q2486376)

Inverse one-dimensional transient heat conduction problem is considered. Known are the Dirichlet boundary conditions and final time. The initial conditions are sought for. The algorithm starts with a transformation \(s=T-t\) to invert the arrow of time. Then the stabilization of the scheme is introduced by mapping \(v=\exp[-as]u\) where \(u\) is the original and \(v\) is the result of the mapping and \(a\) is a stability factor. The boundary value problem is discretized in space using standard finite difference on uniform grid. The resulting set of ordinary differential equations is then numerically integrated by a group preserving scheme and the stability range of the grid Fourier number is evaluated. Two numerical examples concerning direct and inverse problems are included.