English

A uniqueness result on detecting a prey in a spider orb-web

Mathematical Physics 2019-06-11 v1 math.MP

Abstract

We consider the inverse problem of localizing a prey hitting a spider orb-web from dynamic measurements taken near the center of the web, where the spider is supposed to stay. The actual discrete orb-web, formed by a finite number of radial and circumferential threads, is modelled as a continuous membrane. The membrane has a specific fibrous structure, which is inherited from the original discrete web, and it is subject to tensile pre-stress in the referential configuration. The transverse load describing the prey's impact is assumed of the form g(t)f(x)g(t)f(x), where g(t)g(t) is a known function of time and f(x)f(x) is the unknown term depending on the position variable xx. For axially-symmetric orb-webs supported at the boundary and undergoing infinitesimal transverse deformations, we prove a uniqueness result for f(x)f(x) in terms of measurements of the transverse dynamic displacement taken on an arbitrarily small and thin ring centered at the origin of the web, for a sufficiently large interval of time.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1906.03610,
  title  = {A uniqueness result on detecting a prey in a spider orb-web},
  author = {Alexandre Kawano and Antonino Morassi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.03610},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

32 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T09:48:03.742Z