Clebsch variational principles in field theories and singular solutions of covariant EPDiff equations

This paper introduces and studies a field theoretic analogue of the Clebsch variational principle of classical mechanics. This principle yields an alternative derivation of the covariant Euler-Poincar\'e equations that naturally includes covariant Clebsch variables via multisymplectic momentum maps. In the case of diffeomorphism groups, this approach gives a new interpretation of recently derived singular peakon solutions of Diff(R)-strand equations, and allows for the construction of singular solutions (such as filaments or sheets) for a more general class of equations, called covariant EPDiff equations. The relation between the covariant Clebsch principle and other variational principles arising in mechanics and field theories, such as Hamilton-Pontryagin principles, is explained through the introduction of a class of covariant Pontryagin variational principles in field theories.