A homogenization method to solve inverse Cauchy–Stefan problems for recovering non-smooth moving boundary, heat flux and initial value

In the paper, we solve two Stefan problems. The first problem recovers an unknown moving boundary by specifying the Cauchy boundary conditions on a fixed left-end. The second problem finds a time-dependent heat flux on the left-end, such that a desired moving boundary can be achieved. Then, we solve an inverse Cauchy-Stefan problem, using the over-specified Cauchy boundary conditions on a given moving boundary to recover the solution. Resorting on a homogenization function method, we recast these problems into the ones having homogeneous boundary and initial conditions. Consequently, the approximate solution is obtained by solving a linear system obtained from the collocation method in a reduced domain. For the first Stefan problem the moving boundary can be determined accurately, after solving a nonlinear equation at each discretized time. For the second Stefan problem, we can obtain the required boundary heat flux without needing of iteration. Numerical examples, including non-smooth ones, confirm that the novel methods are simple and robust against large noise. Moreover, the Stefan and inverse Cauchy-Stefan problems are solved without initial conditions.