Local Information Operators for Spatial Identifiability in Distributed-Parameter Inverse Problems in Computational Mechanics

Abstract: In distributed-parameter inverse problems in computational mechanics, spatially varying fields are inferred from noisy, indirect, and heterogeneous observations. The relevant identifiability question concerns which spatial perturbation patterns of the field are distinguishable under a specified sensing and excitation programme. This paper develops a local information-operator framework for this purpose. Around a nominal parameter field, the parameter-to-observation map is linearized and the likelihood contribution to posterior precision is interpreted as an operator on parameter-field perturbations. For locally linearized Gaussian models with parameter-independent covariance, this operator is equivalently Fisher information, Gauss-Newton data-misfit curvature, and a noise-weighted sensitivity Gramian. The framework separates pointwise visibility from spatial identifiability. The diagonal gives a coordinate-dependent local information density, while the full kernel and metric- or prior-preconditioned spectra rank spatial patterns that are strongly visible, weakly visible, or locally invisible. Heterogeneous observation blocks are assembled in a common parameter space; information is additive only under conditional independence, whereas correlated errors require the full joint covariance. Model discrepancy, nuisance parameters, and prior information modify the same geometry through covariance inflation, Schur-complement information loss, and prior-preconditioned modes. Examples cover analytic beam kernels, two-span support coupling, static-dynamic fusion for flexural-rigidity identification, and two-dimensional damage-field reconstruction in a leading information subspace. The operator view supports interpretation of identifiability, sensor complementarity, and reduced reconstruction in distributed-parameter inverse problems.