Related papers: Dido's Problem. When a myth of ancient literature …
In this paper, we trace the development of the theory of the calculus of variations. From its roots in the work of Greek thinkers and continuing through to the Renaissance, we see that advances in physics serve as a catalyst for…
E731 in the Enestrom index. Originally published as "Solutio problematis ob singularia calculi artificia memorabilis", Memoires de l'academie des sciences de St-Petersbourg 2 (1810), 3-9. For $z$ the distance from the origin, and $v$ a…
In 1931 Elie Cartan constructed a geometry which was rarely considered. Cartan proposed a way to define an infinitesimal metric $ds$ starting from a variational problem on hypersurfaces in an $n$-dimensional manifold $\mathcal{M}$. This…
The fundamental problem of calculus of variations is considered when solutions are differentiable curves on locally convex spaces. Such problems admit an extension of the Euler-Lagrange equations [Orlov 2002] for continuously normally…
The fundamental problem of the calculus of variations on time scales concerns the minimization of a delta-integral over all trajectories satisfying given boundary conditions. In this paper we prove the second Euler-Lagrange necessary…
Starting from the well-known and elementary problem of inscribing the rectangle of the greatest area in an ellipse, we look at possible, gradually more and more complicated variants of this problem. Our goal is to demonstrate to an average…
When people mention the mathematical achievements of Euclid, his geometrical achievements always spring to mind. But, his Number-Theoretical achievements (See Books 7, 8 and 9 in his magnum opus \emph{Elements} [1]) are rarely spoken. The…
The calculus of variations is a field of mathematical analysis born in 1687 with Newton's problem of minimal resistance, which is concerned with the maxima or minima of integral functionals. Finding the solution of such problems leads to…
We overview the main ideas and techniques of the functional-analytical approach to some extremal problems of convex geometry that stem from the Queen Dido problem.
The isoperimetric problem asks for the maximum area of a region of given perimeter. It is natural to consider other measurements of a region, such as the diameter and width, and ask for the extreme value of one when another is fixed. The…
We deal with direct and inverse problems of the calculus of variations on arbitrary time scales. Firstly, using the Euler-Lagrange equation and the strengthened Legendre condition, we give a general form for a variational functional to…
We study problems of the calculus of variations and optimal control within the framework of time scales. Specifically, we obtain Euler-Lagrange type equations for both Lagrangians depending on higher order delta derivatives and…
We evaluate the variance of the number of lattice points in a small randomly rotated spherical ball on a surface of 3-dimensional sphere centered at the origin. Previously, Bourgain, Rudnick, and Sarnak showed conditionally on the…
The maximal graph Dirichlet problem asks whether there exists a spacelike graph, in a semi-Euclidean space, with a given boundary and with mean curvature everywhere zero. We prove the existence of solutions to this problem under certain…
We give a general criterion for the Dirichlet problem at infinity (DPI) on a Cartan-Hadamard surface to be solvable, which we primarily use to give the best possible upper radial radial curvature bound for solvability of the DPI, but which…
The degree/diameter problem is the problem of finding the largest possible number of vertices $n_{\Delta,D}$ in a graph of given degree $\Delta$ and diameter $D$. We consider the problem for the case of diameter $D=2$. William G Brown gave…
A covering problem posed by Henri Lebesgue in 1914 seeks to find the convex shape of smallest area that contains a subset congruent to any point set of unit diameter in the Euclidean plane. Methods used previously to construct such a…
This work contains an exposition of foundations of the variational calculus in fibered manifolds. The emphasis is laid on the geometric aspects of the theory. Especially functionals defined by real functions (Lagrange functions) or…
This paper looks at how ancient mathematicians (and especially the Pythagorean school) were faced by problems/paradoxes associated with the infinite which led them to juggle two systems of numbers: the discrete whole/rationals which were…
People typically consider only European mathematics as orthodox, often intentionally or unintentionally overlooking the existence of mathematics from non-European societies. Inspired by Maria Ascher's two well-known papers on sand drawings…