Wavelet and Fourier Methods for Solving the Sideways Heat Equation

Abstract

We consider an inverse heat conduction problem, the sideways heat equation, which is a model of a problem, where one wants to determine the temperature on both sides of a thick wall, but where one side is inaccessible to measurements. Mathematically it is formulated as a Cauchy problem for the heat equation in a quarter plane, with data given along the line x=1, where the solution is wanted for $0 \leq x < 1$. The problem is ill-posed, in the sense that the solution (if it exists) does not depend continuously on the data. We consider stabilizations based on replacing the time derivative in the heat equation by wavelet-based approximations or a Fourier-based approximation. The resulting problem is an initial value problem for an ordinary differential equation, which can be solved by standard numerical methods, e.g., a Runge--Kutta method. We discuss the numerical implementation of Fourier and wavelet methods for solving the sideways heat equation. Theory predicts that the Fourier method and a method based on Meyer wavelets will give equally good results. Our numerical experiments indicate that also a method based on Daubechies wavelets gives comparable accuracy. As test problems we take model equations with constant and variable coefficients. We also solve a problem from an industrial application with actual measured data.