This book presents papers given at a Conference on Inverse Scattering on the Line, held in June 1990 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A wide variety of topics in inverse problems were covered: inverse scattering problems on the line; inverse problems in higher dimensions; inverse conductivity problems; and numerical methods. In addition, problems from statistical physics were covered, including monodromy problems, quantum inverse scattering, and the Bethe ansatz. One of the aims of the conference was to bring together researchers in a variety of areas of inverse problems which have seen intensive activity in recent years. scattering

Inverse scattering theory is a major theme of applied mathematics, and it has applications to such diverse areas as medical imaging, geophysical exploration, and nondestructive testing. The inverse scattering problem is both nonlinear and ill-posed, thus presenting particular problems in the development of efficient inversion algorithms. Although linearized models continue to play an important role in many applications, an increased need to focus on problems in which multiple scattering effects cannot be ignored has led to a central role for nonlinearity, and the possibility of collecting large amounts of data over limited regions of space means that the ill-posed nature of the inverse scattering problem has become a problem of central importance.? Initial efforts to address the nonlinear and the ill-posed nature of the inverse scattering problem focused on nonlinear optimization methods. While efficient in many situations, strong a priori information is necessary for their implementation. This problem led to a qualitative approach to inverse scattering theory in which the amount of a priori information is drastically reduced, although at the expense of only obtaining limited information about the values of the constitutive parameters. This qualitative approach (the linear sampling method, the factorization method, the theory of transmission eigenvalues, etc.) is the theme of Inverse Scattering Theory and Transmission Eigenvalues.? The authors begin with a basic introduction to the theory, then proceed to more recent developments, including a detailed discussion of the transmission eigenvalue problem; present the new generalized linear sampling method in addition to the well-known linear sampling and factorization methods; and in order to achieve clarification of presentation, focus on the inverse scattering problem for scalar homogeneous media.?

Inverse scattering theory is a major theme in applied mathematics, with applications to such diverse areas as medical imaging, geophysical exploration, and nondestructive testing. The inverse scattering problem is both nonlinear and ill-posed, thus presenting challenges in the development of efficient inversion algorithms. A further complication is that anisotropic materials cannot be uniquely determined from given scattering data. In the first edition of Inverse Scattering Theory and Transmission Eigenvalues, the authors discussed methods for determining the support of inhomogeneous media from measured far field data and the role of transmission eigenvalue problems in the mathematical development of these methods. In this second edition, three new chapters describe recent developments in inverse scattering theory. In particular, the authors explore the use of modified background media in the nondestructive testing of materials and methods for determining the modified transmission eigenvalues that arise in such applications from measured far field data. They also examine nonscattering wave numbers—a subset of transmission eigenvalues—using techniques taken from the theory of free boundary value problems for elliptic partial differential equations and discuss the dualism of scattering poles and transmission eigenvalues that has led to new methods for the numerical computation of scattering poles. This book will be of interest to research mathematicians and engineers and physicists working on problems in target identification. It will also be useful to advanced graduate students in many areas of applied mathematics.

Inverse scattering theory is an important area of applied mathematics due to its central role in such areas as medical imaging , nondestructive testing and geophysical exploration. Until recently all existing algorithms for solving inverse scattering problems were based on using either a weak scattering assumption or on the use of nonlinear optimization techniques. The limitations of these methods have led in recent years to an alternative approach to the inverse scattering problem which avoids the incorrect model assumptions inherent in the use of weak scattering approximations as well as the strong a priori information needed in order to implement nonlinear optimization techniques. These new methods come under the general title of qualitative methods in inverse scattering theory and seek to determine an approximation to the shape of the scattering object as well as estimates on its material properties without making any weak scattering assumption and using essentially no a priori information on the nature of the scattering object. This book is designed to be an introduction to this new approach in inverse scattering theory focusing on the use of sampling methods and transmission eigenvalues. In order to aid the reader coming from a discipline outside of mathematics we have included background material on functional analysis, Sobolev spaces, the theory of ill posed problems and certain topics in in the theory of entire functions of a complex variable. This book is an updated and expanded version of an earlier book by the authors published by Springer titled Qualitative Methods in Inverse Scattering Theory Review of Qualitative Methods in Inverse Scattering Theory All in all, the authors do exceptionally well in combining such a wide variety of mathematical material and in presenting it in a well-organized and easy-to-follow fashion. This text certainly complements the growing body of work in inverse scattering and should well suit both new researchers to the field as well as those who could benefit from such a nice codified collection of profitable results combined in one bound volume. SIAM Review, 2006