Sequential quadratic programming for certain parameter identification problems (Q1181898)

The authors show how the method of sequential quadratic programming can be applied to elliptic parameter identification problems (and their large scale finite dimensional discretizations) by treating in detail the following problem: To estimate the coefficient function \(q(x)\) in the one-dimensional elliptic equation \(-(qu')'=f\) in \(I\), \(I\) denoting the unit interval in \(R\), with \(u=0\) on the boundary, provided the function \(f(x)\) and an observation \(z(x)\) of \(u\) in \(I\) are known. The paper also contains a discussion of implementation aspects of the proposed method as well as a presentation of some numerical results.