Shooting Methods for Numerical Solutions of Exact Controllability Problems Constrained by Linear and Semilinear 2-d Wave Equations

Abstract. Numerical solutions of exact controllability problems for linear and semilinear 2-d wave equations with distributed controls are studied. Exact controllability problems can be solved by the corresponding optimal control problems. The optimal control problem is reformulated as a system of equations (an optimality system) that consists of an initial value problem for the underlying (linear or semilinear) wave equation and a terminal value problem for the adjoint wave equation. The discretized optimality system is solved by a shooting method. The convergence properties of the numerical shooting method in the context of exact controllability are illustrated through computational experiments.