A Carleman estimate and the balancing principle in the quasi-reversibility method for solving the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation

Abstract

The quasi-reversibility method of solving the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation in a bounded domain Ω is considered. With the help of the Carleman estimation technique improved error and stability bounds in a subdomain Ωσ ⊂ Ω are obtained. This paves the way for the use of the balancing principle for an a posteriori choice of the regularization parameter ε in the quasi-reversibility method. As an adaptive regularization parameter choice strategy, the balancing principle does not require a priori knowledge of either the solution smoothness or a constant K appearing in the stability bound estimation. Nevertheless, this principle allows an a posteriori parameter choice that up to a controllable constant achieves the best accuracy guaranteed by the Carleman estimate.