External optimal control of fractional parabolic PDEs^*

Department of Mathematical Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.

^** Corresponding author: hantil@gmu.edu

Received: 4 May 2019
Accepted: 26 January 2020

Abstract

In [Antil et al. Inverse Probl. 35 (2019) 084003.] we introduced a new notion of optimal control and source identification (inverse) problems where we allow the control/source to be outside the domain where the fractional elliptic PDE is fulfilled. The current work extends this previous work to the parabolic case. Several new mathematical tools have been developed to handle the parabolic problem. We tackle the Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin cases. The need for these novel optimal control concepts stems from the fact that the classical PDE models only allow placing the control/source either on the boundary or in the interior where the PDE is satisfied. However, the nonlocal behavior of the fractional operator now allows placing the control/source in the exterior. We introduce the notions of weak and very-weak solutions to the fractional parabolic Dirichlet problem. We present an approach on how to approximate the fractional parabolic Dirichlet solutions by the fractional parabolic Robin solutions (with convergence rates). A complete analysis for the Dirichlet and Robin optimal control problems has been discussed. The numerical examples confirm our theoretical findings and further illustrate the potential benefits of nonlocal models over the local ones.