The Geometry of Ordinary Variational Equations


Book Description

The book provides a comprehensive theory of ODE which come as Euler-Lagrange equations from generally higher-order Lagrangians. Emphasis is laid on applying methods from differential geometry (fibered manifolds and their jet-prolongations) and global analysis (distributions and exterior differential systems). Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, etc., for any Lagrangian system of any order are presented. The key idea - to build up these theories as related with the class of equivalent Lagrangians - distinguishes this book from other texts on higher-order mechanics. The reader should be familiar with elements of differential geometry, global analysis and the calculus of variations.




Introduction to Global Variational Geometry


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to modern global variational theory on fibred spaces. It is based on differentiation and integration theory of differential forms on smooth manifolds, and on the concepts of global analysis and geometry such as jet prolongations of manifolds, mappings, and Lie groups. The book will be invaluable for researchers and PhD students in differential geometry, global analysis, differential equations on manifolds, and mathematical physics, and for the readers who wish to undertake further rigorous study in this broad interdisciplinary field. Featured topics - Analysis on manifolds - Differential forms on jet spaces - Global variational functionals - Euler-Lagrange mapping - Helmholtz form and the inverse problem - Symmetries and the Noether’s theory of conservation laws - Regularity and the Hamilton theory - Variational sequences - Differential invariants and natural variational principles - First book on the geometric foundations of Lagrange structures - New ideas on global variational functionals - Complete proofs of all theorems - Exact treatment of variational principles in field theory, inc. general relativity - Basic structures and tools: global analysis, smooth manifolds, fibred spaces




Variational Principles for Second-order Differential Equations


Book Description

The inverse problem of the calculus of variations was first studied by Helmholtz in 1887 and it is entirely solved for the differential operators, but only a few results are known in the more general case of differential equations. This book looks at second-order differential equations and asks if they can be written as Euler-Lagrangian equations. If the equations are quadratic, the problem reduces to the characterization of the connections which are Levi-Civita for some Riemann metric.To solve the inverse problem, the authors use the formal integrability theory of overdetermined partial differential systems in the Spencer-Quillen-Goldschmidt version. The main theorems of the book furnish a complete illustration of these techniques because all possible situations appear: involutivity, 2-acyclicity, prolongation, computation of Spencer cohomology, computation of the torsion, etc.




Variational Principles For Second-order Differential Equations, Application Of The Spencer Theory Of


Book Description

The inverse problem of the calculus of variations was first studied by Helmholtz in 1887 and it is entirely solved for the differential operators, but only a few results are known in the more general case of differential equations. This book looks at second-order differential equations and asks if they can be written as Euler-Lagrangian equations. If the equations are quadratic, the problem reduces to the characterization of the connections which are Levi-Civita for some Riemann metric.To solve the inverse problem, the authors use the formal integrability theory of overdetermined partial differential systems in the Spencer-Quillen-Goldschmidt version. The main theorems of the book furnish a complete illustration of these techniques because all possible situations appear: involutivity, 2-acyclicity, prolongation, computation of Spencer cohomology, computation of the torsion, etc.




Harmonic Maps and Minimal Immersions with Symmetries (AM-130), Volume 130


Book Description

The aim of this book is to study harmonic maps, minimal and parallel mean curvature immersions in the presence of symmetry. In several instances, the latter permits reduction of the original elliptic variational problem to the qualitative study of certain ordinary differential equations: the authors' primary objective is to provide representative examples to illustrate these reduction methods and their associated analysis with geometric and topological applications. The material covered by the book displays a solid interplay involving geometry, analysis and topology: in particular, it includes a basic presentation of 1-cohomogeneous equivariant differential geometry and of the theory of harmonic maps between spheres.




Non-commuting Variations in Mathematics and Physics


Book Description

This text presents and studies the method of so –called noncommuting variations in Variational Calculus. This method was pioneered by Vito Volterra who noticed that the conventional Euler-Lagrange (EL-) equations are not applicable in Non-Holonomic Mechanics and suggested to modify the basic rule used in Variational Calculus. This book presents a survey of Variational Calculus with non-commutative variations and shows that most basic properties of conventional Euler-Lagrange Equations are, with some modifications, preserved for EL-equations with K-twisted (defined by K)-variations. Most of the book can be understood by readers without strong mathematical preparation (some knowledge of Differential Geometry is necessary). In order to make the text more accessible the definitions and several necessary results in Geometry are presented separately in Appendices I and II Furthermore in Appendix III a short presentation of the Noether Theorem describing the relation between the symmetries of the differential equations with dissipation and corresponding s balance laws is presented.




Harmonic Maps and Minimal Immersions with Symmetries


Book Description

The aim of this book is to study harmonic maps, minimal and parallel mean curvature immersions in the presence of symmetry. In several instances, the latter permits reduction of the original elliptic variational problem to the qualitative study of certain ordinary differential equations: the authors' primary objective is to provide representative examples to illustrate these reduction methods and their associated analysis with geometric and topological applications. The material covered by the book displays a solid interplay involving geometry, analysis and topology: in particular, it includes a basic presentation of 1-cohomogeneous equivariant differential geometry and of the theory of harmonic maps between spheres.




Variational, Topological, and Partial Order Methods with Their Applications


Book Description

Nonlinear functional analysis is an important branch of contemporary mathematics. It's related to topology, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, groups, dynamical systems, differential geometry, measure theory, and more. In this book, the author presents some new and interesting results on fundamental methods in nonlinear functional analysis, namely variational, topological and partial order methods, which have been used extensively to solve existence of solutions for elliptic equations, wave equations, Schrödinger equations, Hamiltonian systems etc., and are also used to study the existence of multiple solutions and properties of solutions. This book is useful for researchers and graduate students in the field of nonlinear functional analysis.




Geometric Analysis and Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations


Book Description

This well-organized and coherent collection of papers leads the reader to the frontiers of present research in the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations and the calculus of variations and offers insight into some exciting developments. In addition, most articles also provide an excellent introduction to their background, describing extensively as they do the history of those problems presented, as well as the state of the art and offer a well-chosen guide to the literature. Part I contains the contributions of geometric nature: From spectral theory on regular and singular spaces to regularity theory of solutions of variational problems. Part II consists of articles on partial differential equations which originate from problems in physics, biology and stochastics. They cover elliptic, hyperbolic and parabolic cases.




Symmetry and Perturbation Theory


Book Description

This proceedings volume is devoted to the interplay of symmetry and perturbation theory, as well as to cognate fields such as integrable systems, normal forms, n-body dynamics and choreographies, geometry and symmetry of differential equations, and finite and infinite dimensional dynamical systems. The papers collected here provide an up-to-date overview of the research in the field, and have many leading scientists in the field among their authors, including: D Alekseevsky, S Benenti, H Broer, A Degasperis, M E Fels, T Gramchev, H Hanssmann, J Krashil''shchik, B Kruglikov, D Krupka, O Krupkova, S Lombardo, P Morando, O Morozov, N N Nekhoroshev, F Oliveri, P J Olver, J A Sanders, M A Teixeira, S Terracini, F Verhulst, P Winternitz, B Zhilinskii. Sample Chapter(s). Foreword (101 KB). Chapter 1: Homogeneous Bi-Lagrangian Manifolds and Invariant Monge-Ampere Equations (415 KB). Contents: On Darboux Integrability (I M Anderson et al.); Computing Curvature without Christoffel Symbols (S Benenti); Natural Variational Principles (D Krupka); Fuzzy Fractional Monodromy (N N Nekhoroshev); Emergence of Slow Manifolds in Nonlinear Wave Equations (F Verhulst); Complete Symmetry Groups and Lie Remarkability (K Andriopoulos); Geodesically Equivalent Flat Bi-Cofactor Systems (K Marciniak); On the Dihedral N-Body Problem (A Portaluri); Towards Global Classifications: A Diophantine Approach (P van der Kamp); and other papers. Readership: Researchers and students (graduate/advanced undergraduates) in mathematics, applied mathematics, physics and nonlinear science.