An international conference on Novel Directions in Inverse Scattering" will take place at the University of Delaware, Newark, July 29 - August 2, 2013 The organizing committee for this conference is F. Cakoni, University of Delaware (chair), L. Borcea, Rice University, Houssem Haddar, Ecole Polytechnique, France, Peter Monk, University of Delaware. For more information on the meeting please visit www.cmap.polytechnique.fr/~colton/ This Conference will be a gathering of international experts as well as junior researchers in the area of inverse scattering theory with the focus being on novel techniques for solving inverse scattering problems. On the basis of current research trends and the wide spectrum of inverse scattering applications, we focus on the following topics at the forefront of research in this area: non-iterative techniques to determine the physical properties of complex penetrable targets (obstacles) with anisotropy, attenuation, or internal length scales as well as the reconstruction of surface- or line-like objects in a three- dimensional environment; cloaking; imaging through complex background media with e.g. random or periodic heterogeneities; multi-frequency and time-domain extensions of the existing monochromatic solutions; adaptive sensing; thermo-acoustic and other multi-modal imaging techniques. The conference will feature plenary talks given by international experts on the aforementioned topics, invited minisymposium speakers organized and contributed posters.
Inverse problems typically occur when we wish to infer properties of objects from remote measurements. The topics of the conference involve rapidly developing mathematics at the frontiers on today's research in the area of inverse problems. Applicability of these type of mathematics extends to many real life applications including medical imaging, non-destructive testing, underground imaging and oil exploration, cloaking an enhance visibility. The conference will also bridge the gap between theoretical and more applied aspects of inverse scattering problems. The exchange of ideas will be beneficial to both theoretical and applied aspects of research in inverse scattering theory. This gathering will also celebrate the scientific accomplishments of Professor David Colton.
This grant proposal funded participation of graduate students and young researchers at the international conference "Novel Direction in Inverse Scattering" which took place at the university of Delaware, Newark DE 19711 during July 29 - August 2, 2013. See the website www.cmap.polytechnique.fr/~colton/ A total of 82 researchers at various levels participated in this Conference. The Conference featured 21 invited plenary talks given by leading experts as well as rising stars in inverse problems, 3 minisymposia each with 4 invited talks, and a poster session where about 25 graduate students and young postdocs presented their work. The theory and applications of inverse problems have long made an imprint in science and technology as a critical tool in establishing the link between physical reality and mathematical models. Moreover, in recent times, inverse problems have, in many disciplines, taken center stage -- a trend spurred by concomitant advances in sensing technologies, wireless computing hardware, signal processing, and rapidly mounting applications of remote sensing. Almost without exception, there are conflicting demands for reduced computing time and the necessity to develop ``direct'' computational models with ever-growing complexity and sophistication. In terms of the theory of inverse problems, this in turn puts a premium on the development of new powerful and flexible techniques that transcend the limitations of customary asymptotic approximations or nonlinear optimization methods. Over the past decade, such a paradigm shift has been particularly noticeable in the theories of inverse scattering that have given rise to techniques such as the linear sampling and factorizations methods, theoretical and practical realization of cloaking and invisibility, methods allowing imaging through random and highly scattering media, and a variety of non-iterative solution strategies based on geometrical and analytical approaches as well as hybrid methods. This conference was a forum for the exchange of hot theoretical results, new trends, open problems and future directions in the area of inverse problems. It also bridged the gap between theoretical and more applied aspects of inverse scattering problems. The invited talks covered recent developments in major areas of inverse problems such as non-iterative techniques to reconstruct the support and the physical properties of complex penetrable targets (obstacles) with anisotropy, attenuation, or internal length scales; cloaking; imaging through complex background media with e.g. random or periodic heterogeneities; multi-frequency and time-domain extensions of the existing "monochromatic'' solutions; adaptive sensing; thermo-acoustic and other hybrids multi-modal imaging techniques. Three minisymposia titled 1) Electrical impedance tomography and related topics, 2) Computational Methods in Inverse Scattering, 3) Recent Developments in Inverse Scattering Theory, featured talks on transmission eigenvalues, electromagnetic inverse scattering and asymptotic techniques, inverse problems for radiative transport equation, stochastic methods and bayesian techniques to inverse problems etc. This meeting had a unique focus, namely theoretical aspects of novel techniques in inverse problems with an emphasis on inverse scattering. This focus was broad enough to bring together a coherent community working in the area, as well as provide great opportunities for many young researchers and graduate students form the United States and abroad for a closer and direct interaction with experts in their area of research. Graduate students and young researcher had the unique opportunity to meet, listen to, and discuss in informal settings with leading experts in the area from around the world (the speakers were from USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Finland, Italy, Greece etc.) The meeting also provided the opportunity for the young researchers to present their results in one afternoon poster session that was very well attended. This type of scientific gathering and interaction have long-lasting impact on young researchers and graduate students starting their scientific career.
