Lipschitz stability in inverse problems for semi-discrete parabolic operators

Abstract: This work addresses an inverse problem for a semi-discrete parabolic equation, which consists of identifying the right-hand side of the equation based on solution measurements at an intermediate time and within a spatial subdomain. This result can be applied to establish a stability estimate for the spatially dependent potential function. Our approach relies on a novel semi-discrete Carleman estimate, whose parameter is constrained by the mesh size. As a consequence of the discrete terms arising in the Carleman inequality, this method naturally introduces an error term related to the solution's initial condition.