Inverse hyperbolic problems and optical black holes

Abstract

In this paper we give a more geometrical formulation of the main theorem in [E1] on the inverse problem for the second order hyperbolic equation of general form with coefficients independent of the time variable. We apply this theorem to the inverse problem for the equation of the propagation of light in a moving medium (the Gordon equation). Then we study the existence of black and white holes for the general hyperbolic and for the Gordon equation and we discuss the impact of this phenomenon on the inverse problems