Quantitative unique continuation for wave operators with a jump discontinuity across an interface and applications to approximate control

Abstract: In this article we prove quantitative unique continuation results for wave operators of the form $\partial$ 2 t -- div(c(x)$\nabla$$\bullet$) where the scalar coefficient c is discontinuous across an interface of codimension one in a bounded domain or on a compact Riemannian manifold. We do not make any assumptions on the geometry of the interface or on the sign of the jumps of the coefficient c. The key ingredient is a local Carleman estimate for a wave operator with discontinuous coefficients. We then combine this estimate with the recent techniques of Laurent-L{\'e}autaud [LL19] to propagate local unique continuation estimates and obtain a global stability inequality. As a consequence, we deduce the cost of the approximate controllability for waves propagating in this geometry.