A note on the approximation of Dirichlet boundary control problems for the wave equation on curved domains

Abstract

We consider an exact boundary control problem for the wave equation with given initial and terminal data and Dirichlet boundary control. The aim is to steer the state of the system that is defined on a given domain to a position of rest in finite time. The optimal control that is obtained as the solution of the problem depends on the data that define the problem, in particular on the domain. Often for the numerical solution of the control problem, this given domain is replaced by a polygon. This is the motivation to study the convergence of the optimal controls for the polygon to the optimal controls for the given domain. To study the convergence, the values of the optimal controls that are defined on the boundaries of the approximating polygons are mapped in the normal directions of the polygon to control functions defined on the boundary of the original domain. This map has already been used by Bramble and King, Deckelnick, Guenther and Hinze and by Casas and Sokolowski. Using this map, we can show the strong convergence of the transformed controls as the polygons approach the given domain. An essential tool to obtain the convergence is a regularization term in the objective functions to increase the regularity of the state.

Keywords:

• wave equation
• Dirichlet boundary control
• exact control
• optimal control
• domain sensitivity
• polygonal domain

AMS Subject Classifications::

• 49J20
• 35L05
• 35L53

Acknowledgements

This article was supported by the PROCOPE program of DAAD, D/0811409.