Evaluation of diffusion coefficient based on multiple forward solutions

This note is concerned with the identification of the unknown diffusion coefficient for a parabolic equation. It introduces an iterative algorithm that can be used to recover the unknown function. The algorithm assumes an initial guess for the unknown function and obtains a background field. It obtains an equation for the error field. It then formulates three forward problems for the error field. These three formulations share the same unknown function which is the correction to the assumed value of the unknown diffusion coefficient. By equating the responses of these three formulations, the algorithm obtains two working equations for the unknown function. A number of numerical examples are also used to study the performance of the algorithm.