Characterization of Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps via the Born approximation

Abstract

The problem of identifying the set of Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) maps arising from conductivities on a smooth domain, among operators acting on functions on the boundary, is a challenging issue in the mathematical analysis of the Calder\'on inverse problem. This question is also relevant in specific applications since, as the inverse problem is ill-posed, numerically reconstructing a conductivity from the knowledge of its DtN map is particularly delicate. In this article, we address this issue by proving that any DtN map arising from a radial conductivity in the unit ball of $\mathbb{R}^d$ admits an exact representation as a linearized DtN map for a uniquely determined integrable function, that we call the Born approximation. This gives a strong necessary condition for an operator to be a DtN map arising from a radial conductivity. In particular, our results are a starting point towards developing a rigorous foundation for numerous linearization-based methods that are commonly used in the numerical solution of the Calder\'on inverse problem. We also characterize the Born approximation as a solution to a generalized moment problem that is formally well-defined even for non-radial conductivities. We investigate the uniqueness and structure of general non-radial solutions to this moment problem on the unit disk and provide an algorithm to numerically reconstruct the Born approximation in this setting. We provide numerical experiments to test the resolution and robustness of the Born approximation in different situations.