Lipschitz stability of an inverse problem of transmission waves with variable jumps

Abstract This article studies an inverse problem for a transmission wave equation, a system where the main coefficient has a variable jump across an internal interface given by the boundary between two subdomains. The main result obtains Lipschitz stability in recovering a zeroth-order coefficient in the equation. The proof is based on the Bukhgeim–Klibanov method and uses a new one-parameter global Carleman inequality, specifically constructed for the case of a variable main coefficient which is discontinuous across a strictly convex interface. In particular, our hypothesis allows the main coefficient to vary smoothly within each subdomain up to the interface, thereby extending the preceding literature on the subject.