Inverse problems for parabolic equations with interior degeneracy and Neumann boundary conditions (Q299016)

In this paper the authors are concerned with the Cauchy-Neumann problem \[ \begin{cases} v_t=Av+g, &\text{in }(0,T)\times (0,1),\\ v_x(\cdot,0)=v_x(\cdot,1)=0, & \text{in } (0,T),\\ v(0,\cdot)=v_0, & \text{in }(0,1), \end{cases} \eqno{(1)} \] where \(Av=(av_x)_x\) or \(Av=av_{xx}\) and the function \(a:[0,1]\to [0,+\infty)\) degenerates only at some point \(x_0\in (0,1)\) in the weak or strong sense. Here, weak degeneracy means that \(a\) is absolutely continuous in \([0,1]\) and there exists a constant \(K\in (0,1)\) such that \((x-x_0)a'(x)\leq Ka(x)\) for almost every \(x\in (0,1)\). On the other hand strong degeneracy means that \(a\) is Lipschitz continuous in \([0,1]\) and the above estimate is satisfied with some constant \(K\in [1,2)\). Let \(X=L^2((0,1))\) in the weakly degenerate case and let \(X\) be the weighted \(L^2\)-space over \((0,1)\) with weight \(1/a\) in the strongly degenerate case, normed in the natural way. Further, fix \(t_0\in (0,T)\) and set \(T'=(t_0+T)/2\). In both the situations described above the main result of the paper is the estimate \[ \|g\|_{L^2((t_0,T);X)}\leq C\|Av(T',\cdot)\|_X, \eqno{(2)} \] for the solution \(v\in C^1([0,T] ;X)\) to problem (1), corresponding to the data \(v_0\in X\) and \(g\in L^2((0,1); X)\cap H^1((t_0,T); X)\) such that \(| D_tf(t,x)| \leq C_0| f(T',x)|\) for almost every in \((t,x)\in (t_0,T)\times (0,1)\) and some positive constant \(C_0\). Here, \(C=C(t_0,x_0,T,C_0)\) is a positive constant. When \(A\) is in divergence form, the authors assume that \(a\) is continuously differentiable in \([0,1]\setminus\{x_0\}\) in the weakly degenerate case, whereas in the strongly degenerate case if \(K>4/3\) then they also assume that there exists a positive constant \(\theta\in (0,K]\) such that the map \(x\mapsto | x-x_0| ^{-\theta}a(x)\) is non increasing in \((0,x_0)\) and non decreasing in \((x_0,1)\). If further \(K>3/2\) then the previous function is assumed to have positive infimum and \(| a'(x)| \leq\Sigma | x-x_0|^{2\theta-3}\) for almost every in \(x\in (0,1)\) and some positive constant \(\Sigma\). When \(A\) is not in divergence form, the authors assume that the function \(x\mapsto (x-x_0)a'(x)/a(x)\) is Lipschitz continuous in \([0,1]\) and, if \(K>1/2\), then they also assume the same monotonicity assumption as above on the function \(x\mapsto | x-x_0|^{-\theta}a(x)\). The proof of estimate (2) strongly relies on some Carleman estimates, which were already known in the weakly degenerate case and are proved here in the strongly degenerate case.