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Identification of small inhomogeneities of extreme conductivity by boundary measurements: a theorem on continuous dependence

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Abstract

We consider an electrostatic problem for a conductor consisting of finitely many small inhomogeneities of extreme conductivity, embedded in a spatially varying reference medium. Firstly we establish an asymptotic formula for the voltage potential in terms of the reference voltage potential, the location of the inhomogeneities and their geometry. Secondly we use this representation formula to prove a Lipschitz-continuous dependence estimate for the corresponding inverse problem. This estimate bounds the difference in the location and in certain geometric properties of two sets of inhomogeneities by the difference in the boundary voltage potentials corresponding to a fixed current distribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, University of Minnesota, 55455, Minneapolis, MN

    Avner Friedman & Michael Vogelius

  2. Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, 20742, College Park, MD

    Avner Friedman & Michael Vogelius

Authors
  1. Avner Friedman
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  2. Michael Vogelius
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Communicated by H. Weinberger

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Friedman, A., Vogelius, M. Identification of small inhomogeneities of extreme conductivity by boundary measurements: a theorem on continuous dependence. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 105, 299–326 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00281494

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00281494

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