Inverse Geometric Diffraction by a Cone

Consider the inverse problem of recovering a strictly convex conical obstacle in $\mathbb{R}^3$ from the diffraction coefficients along with arrival directions (lens data) or arrival times of diffracted waves. The incident wave is a spherical pulse emanating from a point, and the measurements of diffracted waves are taken at an arbitrarily sized receiver placed within the reflection shadow. Specifically, the lens data or arrival times determine the location of the tip, whereas the diffraction coefficients reconstruct the shape of the cone. Since diffraction coefficients are described by half waves over the complement of the cone base in $\mathbb{S}^2$, we reduce inverse diffraction by a cone in $\mathbb{R}^3$ to identifying the reflected wavefront in $\mathbb{S}^2$ and recovering the obstacle using reflected rays on the sphere. The former is accomplished by constructing the Hadamard parametrix for half waves near the wavefront, whereas the latter relies on the topological properties of broken geodesics on $\mathbb{S}^2$. The framework developed in this paper exploits the analytic and geometric structures of diffracted wave fields characterized in the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction, and establishes, for the first time, a rigorous inverse theory corresponding to GTD.