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Gunther Uhlmann

Publications and source records attributed to Gunther Uhlmann.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

Inverse problems for Lorentzian manifolds and non-linear hyperbolic equations

We study two inverse problems on a globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifold $(M,g)$. The problems are: 1. Passive observations in spacetime: Consider observations in a neighborhood $V\subset M$ of a time-like geodesic $μ$. Under natural causality conditions, we reconstruct the conformal type of the unknown open, relatively compact set $W\subset M$, when we are given $V$, the conformal class of $g|_V$, and the light observations sets $P_V(q)$ corresponding to all source points $q$ in $W$. The light observation set $P_V(q)$ is the intersection of $V$ and the light-cone emanating from the point $q$, i.e., the points in the set $V$ where light from a point source at $q$ is observed. 2. Active measurements in spacetime: We develop a new method for inverse problems for non-linear hyperbolic equations that utilizes the non-linearity as a tool. This enables us to solve inverse problems for non-linear equations for which the corresponding problems for linear equations are still unsolved. To illustrate this method, we solve an inverse problem for semilinear wave equations with quadratic non-linearities. We assume that we are given the neighborhood $V$ of the time-like geodesic $μ$ and the source-to-solution operator that maps the source supported on $V$ to the restriction of the solution of the wave equation in $V$. When $M$ is 4-dimensional, we show that these data determine the topological, differentiable, and conformal structures of the spacetime in the maximal set where waves can propagate from $μ$ and return back to $μ$.

math.DG↗
arXiv2017

Propagation and recovery of singularities in the inverse conductivity problem

The ill-posedness of Calderón's inverse conductivity problem, responsible for the poor spatial resolution of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), has been an impetus for the development of hybrid imaging techniques, which compensate for this lack of resolution by coupling with a second type of physical wave, typically modeled by a hyperbolic PDE. Here we show how, using EIT data alone, to efficiently detect interior jumps and other singularities of the conductivity. Analysis of the complex geometrical optics solutions of Astala and Päivärinta [\emph{Ann. Math.}, {\bf 163} (2006)] in 2D makes it possible to exploit an underlying complex principal type structure of the problem. We show that the leading term in a Neumann series is an invertible nonlinear generalized Radon transform of the conductivity. The wave front set of all higher-order terms can be characterized, and, under a prior, some are smoother than the leading term. Numerics indicate that this approach effectively detects inclusions within inclusions via EIT.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

Tensor tomography in periodic slabs

The X-ray transform on the periodic slab $[0,1]\times\mathbb T^n$, $n\geq0$, has a non-trivial kernel due to the symmetry of the manifold and presence of trapped geodesics. For tensor fields gauge freedom increases the kernel further, and the X-ray transform is not solenoidally injective unless $n=0$. We characterize the kernel of the geodesic X-ray transform for $L^2$-regular $m$-tensors for any $m\geq0$. The characterization extends to more general manifolds, twisted slabs, including the Möbius strip as the simplest example.

math.DG↗
arXiv2017

Inverse problems for advection diffusion equations in admissible geometries

We study inverse boundary problems for the advection diffusion equation on an admissible manifold, i.e. a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary of dimension $\ge 3$, which is conformally embedded in a product of the Euclidean real line and a simple manifold. We prove the unique identifiability of the advection term of class $H^1\cap L^\infty$ and of class $H^{2/3}\cap C^{0,1/3}$ from the knowledge of the associated Dirichlet-to-Neumann map on the boundary of the manifold. This seems to be the first global identifiability result for possibly discontinuous advection terms.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

Determination of vacuum space-times from the Einstein-Maxwell equations

We study inverse problems for the Einstein-Maxwell equations. We prove that it is possible to generate gravitational waves from the nonlinear interactions of electromagnetic waves. By sending electromagnetic waves from a neighborhood of a freely falling observer and taking measurements of the gravitational perturbations in the same neighborhood, one can determine the vacuum space-time structure up to diffeomorphisms in the largest region where these waves can travel to from the observer and return.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

The Calderón problem for the fractional Schrödinger equation

We show global uniqueness in an inverse problem for the fractional Schrödinger equation: an unknown potential in a bounded domain is uniquely determined by exterior measurements of solutions. We also show global uniqueness in the partial data problem where the measurements are taken in arbitrary open, possibly disjoint, subsets of the exterior. The results apply in any dimension $\geq 2$ and are based on a strong approximation property of the fractional equation that extends earlier work. This special feature of the nonlocal equation renders the analysis of related inverse problems radically different from the traditional Calderón problem.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

Inverse problems for magnetic Schrödinger operators in transversally anisotropic geometries

We study inverse boundary problems for magnetic Schrödinger operators on a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary of dimension $\ge 3$. In the first part of the paper we are concerned with the case of admissible geometries, i.e. compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary which are conformally embedded in a product of the Euclidean line and a simple manifold. We show that the knowledge of the Cauchy data on the boundary of the manifold for the magnetic Schrödinger operator with $L^\infty$ magnetic and electric potentials, determines the magnetic field and electric potential uniquely. In the second part of the paper we address the case of more general conformally transversally anisotropic geometries, i.e. compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary which are conformally embedded in a product of the Euclidean line and a compact manifold, which need not be simple. Here, under the assumption that the geodesic ray transform on the transversal manifold is injective, we prove that the knowledge of the Cauchy data on the boundary of the manifold for a magnetic Schrödinger operator with continuous potentials, determines the magnetic field uniquely. Assuming that the electric potential is known, we show that the Cauchy data determines the magnetic potential up to a gauge equivalence.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

Reducing Streaking Artifacts in Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping

It is well-known that reconstruction algorithms in quantitative susceptibility mapping often contain streaking artifacts. In [1], the cause of the artifacts is identified as propagation of singularities. In this work, we analyze such singularities carefully and propose some strategies to reduce the artifacts.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

Inversion formulas and range characterizations for the attenuated geodesic ray transform

We present two range characterizations for the attenuated geodesic X-ray transform defined on pairs of functions and one-forms on simple surfaces. Such characterizations are based on first isolating the range over sums of functions and one-forms, then separating each sub-range in two ways, first by implicit conditions, second by deriving new inversion formulas for sums of functions and one-forms.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

Unique determination of the index of refraction from phase-less near-field data in two dimensions

Motivated by non-destructive testing of optical fiber, we consider the problem of determining the index of refraction of a two-dimensional medium from magnitude of the total field resulting from known incident plane waves at a fixed frequency. The finiteness of the fiber cross section allows us to assume that the index of refraction is variable over a compact set. The measurement set is a closed curve, e.g., a circle of fixed radius, containing the fiber cross section. We use complex geometric optics (CGO) solutions to show that the inverse problem for the unknown index of refraction is unique in $C^{k}$ for large enough $k$. The key tool in this work is the multi-term expansion of the CGO solutions which we rely on to address the uniqueness question.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

Inverse problems for semilinear wave equations on Lorentzian manifolds

We consider inverse problems in space-time $(M, g)$, a $4$-dimensional Lorentzian manifold. For semilinear wave equations $\square_g u + H(x, u) = f$, where $\square_g$ denotes the usual Laplace-Beltrami operator, we prove that the source-to-solution map $L: f \rightarrow u|_V$, where $V$ is a neighborhood of a time-like geodesic $μ$, determines the topological, differentiable structure and the conformal class of the metric of the space-time in the maximal set where waves can propagate from $μ$ and return back. Moreover, on a given space-time $(M, g)$, the source-to-solution map determines some coefficients of the Taylor expansion of $H$ in $u$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2016

Journey to the Center of the Earth

We survey some results on travel time tomography. The question is whether we can determine the anisotropic index of refraction of a medium by measuring the travel times of waves going through the medium. This can be recast as geometry problems, the boundary rigidity problem and the lens rigidity problem. The boundary rigidity problem is whether we can determine a Riemannian metric of a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary by measuring the distance function between boundary points. The lens rigidity problem problem is to determine a Riemannian metric of a Riemannian manifold with boundary by measuring for every point and direction of entrance of a geodesic the point of exit and direction of exit and its length. The linearization of these two problems is tensor tomography. The question is whether one can determine a symmetric two-tensor from its integrals along geodesics. We emphasize recent results on boundary and lens rigidity and in tensor tomography in the partial data case.

math.DG↗
arXiv2015

Boundary rigidity with partial data

We study the boundary rigidity problem with partial data consisting of determining locally the Riemannian metric of a Riemannian manifold with boundary from the distance function measured at pairs of points near a fixed point on the boundary. We show that one can recover uniquely and in a stable way a conformal factor near a strictly convex point where we have the information. In particular, this implies that we can determine locally the isotropic sound speed of a medium by measuring the travel times of waves joining points close to a convex point on the boundary. The local results lead to a global lens rigidity uniqueness and stability result assuming that the manifold is foliated by strictly convex hypersurfaces.

math.DG↗
arXiv2015

The X-ray transform for connections in negative curvature

We consider integral geometry inverse problems for unitary connections and skew-Hermitian Higgs fields on manifolds with negative sectional curvature. The results apply to manifolds in any dimension, with or without boundary, and also in the presence of trapped geodesics. In the boundary case, we show injectivity of the attenuated ray transform on tensor fields with values in a Hermitian bundle (i.e. vector valued case). We also show that a connection and Higgs field on a Hermitian bundle are determined up to gauge by the knowledge of the parallel transport between boundary points along all possible geodesics. The main tools are an energy identity, the Pestov identity with a unitary connection, which is presented in a general form, and a precise analysis of the singularities of solutions of transport equations when there are trapped geodesics. In the case of closed manifolds, we obtain similar results modulo the obstruction given by twisted conformal Killing tensors, and we also study this obstruction.

math.AP↗
arXiv2015

Full and Partial Cloaking in Electromagnetic Scattering

In this paper, we consider two regularized transformation-optics cloaking schemes for electromagnetic (EM) waves. Both schemes are based on the blowup construction with the generating sets being, respectively, a generic curve and a planar subset. We derive sharp asymptotic estimates in assessing the cloaking performances of the two constructions in terms of the regularization parameters and the geometries of the cloaking devices. The first construction yields an approximate full-cloak, whereas the second construction yields an approximate partial-cloak. Moreover, by incorporating properly chosen conducting layers, both cloaking constructions are capable of nearly cloaking arbitrary EM contents. This work complements the existing results in [5--7] on approximate EM cloaks with the generating set being a singular point, and it also extends [9,25] on regularized full and partial cloaks for acoustic waves governed by the Helmholtz system to the more challenging EM case governed by the full Maxwell system.

math.AP↗