INVERSE PROBLEM FOR A DISSIPATIVE HYPERBOLIC EQUATION WITH DISCONTINUOUS COEFFICIENTS

A slab of width L situated between the planes z equals 0 and z equals L, with conductivity sigma (z) and permittivity epsilon (z) is considered. Outside of the slab, it is assumed sigma equals 0, epsilon equals epsilon //0. The conductivity and permittivity of the slab are unknown, and a method is sought for determining these functions by measuring electromagnetic waves scattered from the slab. The problem is solved by generalizing results obtained by V. H. Weston concerning the inverse problem for a particular type of hyperbolic partial differential equation.