The inverse problem of determining several coefficients in a nonlinear Lotka–Volterra system

Abstract

In this paper, we prove a uniqueness result in the inverse problem of determining several non-constant coefficients of a system of two parabolic equations, which corresponds to a Lotka–Volterra competition model. Our result gives a sufficient condition for the uniqueness of the determination of four coefficients of the system. This sufficient condition only involves pointwise measurements of the solution (u, v) of the system and of the spatial derivative ∂u/∂x or ∂v/∂x of one component at a single point x0, during a time interval (0, ε). Our results are illustrated by numerical computations.