The backward problem for a time-fractional diffusion-wave equation in a bounded domain

This paper is devoted to solve the backward problem for a time-fractional diffusion-wave equation in a bounded domain. Based on the series expression of the solution for the direct problem, the backward problem for searching the initial data is converted into solving the Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The existence, uniqueness and conditional stability for the backward problem are investigated. We use the Tikhonov regularization method to deal with the integral equation and obtain the series expression of the regularized solution for the backward problem. Furthermore, the convergence rate for the regularized solution can be proved by using an a priori regularization parameter choice rule and an a posteriori regularization parameter choice rule. Numerical results for five examples in one-dimensional case and two-dimensional case show that the proposed method is efficient and stable. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.