

Ask HN: Any ideas about giving a graphical representation of an inverse problem? - cosfor

I would like to start my thesis with that.
Thank you very much.
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dmlorenzetti
You probably need to be more specific than that. What sort of inverse problem
do you have in mind? Does your thesis deal with solving inverse problems, or
with visualization, or with monte carlo simulation using forward models? If
it's problem-based, what particular problems do you consider? Are there
graphical representations of the forward problem? Do you intend to actually
solve the inverse problem and show its solution, or just make a drawing of
what you think the solution would be?

In my field, a typical inverse problem involves source term estimation.
Imagine you have a forward model of atmospheric transport. That is, given a
source of some gas or radiological particle, the model predicts its
concentration in the surrounding area, over time. A graphical representation
of that forward problem might be, for example, a contour map of 24-hour
exposures.

For such a situation, an inverse problem is to estimate, based on a few sensor
readings, the strength and location of a source. A graphical representation of
that inverse problem might be a contour map of probabilities that the source
is in a given location.

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cosfor
First of all, thank you very much for the detailed reply. I was thinking about
something general, i.e. for an intro slide in a presentation where people can
look at and have an immediate visualization of the main feature of an inverse
problem, in particular the fact that it is inverse and hence related to a path
going from data to model. Anyway I appreciated your exaustive examples. Thank
you again.

~~~
dmlorenzetti
I don't know whether this fits your definition of an inverse problem, but
maybe cruise over to the USGS website and find a picture or a screenshot of
locating an earthquake based on seismic readings. Most people have heard of or
can relate to that, I think.

Good luck with your presentation.

