English

The inverse problem in the calculus of variations: new developments

Differential Geometry 2023-07-20 v1 Mathematical Physics Dynamical Systems math.MP Optimization and Control

Abstract

We deal with the problem of determining the existence and uniqueness of Lagrangians for systems of nn second order ordinary differential equations. A number of recent theorems are presented, using exterior differential systems theory (EDS). In particular, we indicate how to generalise Jesse Douglas's famous solution for n=2n=2. We then examine a new class of solutions in arbitrary dimension nn and give some non-trivial examples in dimension 3

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2001.06771,
  title  = {The inverse problem in the calculus of variations: new developments},
  author = {Thoan Do and Geoff Prince},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.06771},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T13:14:54.062Z