Linear Lavrentev Integral Equation for the Numerical Solution of a Nonlinear Coefficient Inverse Problem

For the first time, we develop a convergent numerical method for the llinear integral equation derived by M.M. Lavrentev in 1964 with the goal to solve a coefficient inverse problem for a wave-like equation in 3D. The data are non overdetermined. Convergence analysis is presented along with the numerical results. An intriguing feature of the Lavrentev equation is that, without any linearization, it reduces a highly nonlinear coefficient inverse problem to a linear integral equation of the first kind. Nevertheless, numerical results for that equation, which use the data generated for that coefficient inverse problem, show a good reconstruction accuracy. This is similar with the classical Gelfand-Levitan equation derived in 1951, which is valid in the 1D case.