Related papers: Constrained variational calculus: the second varia…
A dual formalism for Lagrange multipliers is developed. The formalism is used to minimize an action function $S(q_2,q_1,T)$ without any dynamical input other than that $S$ is convex. All the key equations of analytical mechanics -- the…
Motivated by applications in computational anatomy, we consider a second-order problem in the calculus of variations on object manifolds that are acted upon by Lie groups of smooth invertible transformations. This problem leads to solution…
We show that absolutely minimizing functions relative to a convex Hamiltonian $H:\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}$ are uniquely determined by their boundary values under minimal assumptions on $H.$ Along the way, we extend the known equivalences…
It has been shown recently that optimal control problems with the dynamical constraint given by a second order system admit a regular Lagrangian formulation. This implies that the optimality conditions can be obtained in a new form based on…
In this paper we study the regularity and the boundedness of the minima of two classes of functionals of the calculus of variations
A parameter-invariant variational problem with a manifestly covariant Lagrangian function of second order is considered, which covers the case of the free relativistic top at constraint manifold of constant acceleration
We obtain necessary optimality conditions for variational problems with a Lagrangian depending on a Caputo fractional derivative, a fractional and an indefinite integral. Main results give fractional Euler-Lagrange type equations and…
We introduce a discrete-time fractional calculus of variations on the time scales $\mathbb{Z}$ and $(h\mathbb{Z})_a$. First and second order necessary optimality conditions are established. Some numerical examples illustrating the use of…
Constrained optimization problems exist in many domains of science, such as thermodynamics, mechanics, economics, etc. These problems are classically solved with the help of the Lagrange multipliers and the Lagrangian function. However, the…
We have established a coherent framework for applying variational methods to partial differential equations on hypergraphs, which includes the propositions of calculus and function spaces on hypergraphs. Several results related to the…
It is proved that the set of geodesic circles in two dimensions may be given a variational description and the explicit form of it is presented. In the limit case of the Euclidean geometry a certain claim of uniqueness of such description…
Many classical results in algebraic geometry arise from investigating some extremal behaviors that appear among projective varieties not lying on any hypersurface of fixed degree. We study two numerical invariants attached to such…
Trivial second-order Lagrangians are studied and a complete description of the dependence on the second-order derivatives is given. This extends previous work of Olver and others. In particular, this description involves some polynomial…
We study the fundamental problem of the calculus of variations with variable order fractional operators. Fractional integrals are considered in the sense of Riemann-Liouville while derivatives are of Caputo type.
We present an alternative field theoretical approach to the definition of conserved quantities, based directly on the field equations content of a Lagrangian theory (in the standard framework of the Calculus of Variations in jet bundles).…
The most common physical formalisms are the Lagrangian formalism and the Hamiltonian formalism. From the superficial point of view, they are one and the same, but rewritten in other terms. However, it seems that the Hamiltonian formalism…
Making use of the modern techniques of non-holonomic geometry and constrained variational calculus, a revisitation of Ostrogradsky's Hamiltonian formulation of the evolution equations determined by a Lagrangian of order >= 2 in the…
We consider a Cauchy problem for a Hamilton--Jacobi equation with coinvariant derivatives of an order $\alpha \in (0, 1)$. Such problems arise naturally in optimal control problems for dynamical systems which evolution is described by…
We derive the discrete version of the classical Helmholtz condition. Precisely, we state a theorem characterizing second order finite differences equations admitting a Lagrangian formulation. Moreover, in the affirmative case, we provide…
A detailed program is proposed in the Lagrangian formalism to investigate the dynamical behavior of a theory with singular Lagrangian. This program goes on, at different levels, parallel to the Hamiltonian analysis. In particular, we…