The factorization method for virtual experiments based quantitative inverse scattering

The concept of virtual experiments is based on the idea of solving the inverse scattering problem by processing a suitable recombination of the available data, instead of those arising from the measurements. By properly designing such experiments (and without additional measurements), it is possible to enforce some peculiar field's or contrast source's properties, which can be helpful to perform the inversion in a more simple and reliable way. In this paper, we show that the factorization method can be used as a tool to design the virtual experiments. In doing so, we also provide, for the first time, an insight into its physical meaning. As an example, we exploit the virtual experiments designed via FM as the backbone of a linearized inversion approach for quantitative imaging of non-weak targets.