Direct Methods in the Calculus of Variations PDF Download

Author: Bernard Dacorogna
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642514405
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 312

View

Book Description
In recent years there has been a considerable renewal of interest in the clas sical problems of the calculus of variations, both from the point of view of mathematics and of applications. Some of the most powerful tools for proving existence of minima for such problems are known as direct methods. They are often the only available ones, particularly for vectorial problems. It is the aim of this book to present them. These methods were introduced by Tonelli, following earlier work of Hilbert and Lebesgue. Although there are excellent books on calculus of variations and on direct methods, there are recent important developments which cannot be found in these books; in particular, those dealing with vector valued functions and relaxation of non convex problems. These two last ones are important in appli cations to nonlinear elasticity, optimal design . . . . In these fields the variational methods are particularly effective. Part of the mathematical developments and of the renewal of interest in these methods finds its motivations in nonlinear elasticity. Moreover, one of the recent important contributions to nonlinear analysis has been the study of the behaviour of nonlinear functionals un der various types of convergence, particularly the weak convergence. Two well studied theories have now been developed, namely f-convergence and compen sated compactness. They both include as a particular case the direct methods of the calculus of variations, but they are also, both, inspired and have as main examples these direct methods.

Author: Enrico Giusti
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812380434
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 412

View

Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive discussion on the existence and regularity of minima of regular integrals in the calculus of variations and of solutions to elliptic partial differential equations and systems of the second order. While direct methods for the existence of solutions are well known and have been widely used in the last century, the regularity of the minima was always obtained by means of the Euler equation as a part of the general theory of partial differential equations. In this book, using the notion of the quasi-minimum introduced by Giaquinta and the author, the direct methods are extended to the regularity of the minima of functionals in the calculus of variations, and of solutions to partial differential equations. This unified treatment offers a substantial economy in the assumptions, and permits a deeper understanding of the nature of the regularity and singularities of the solutions. The book is essentially self-contained, and requires only a general knowledge of the elements of Lebesgue integration theory.

Author: Irene Fonseca
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387690069
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 602

View

Book Description
This is the first of two books on methods and techniques in the calculus of variations. Contemporary arguments are used throughout the text to streamline and present in a unified way classical results, and to provide novel contributions at the forefront of the theory. This book addresses fundamental questions related to lower semicontinuity and relaxation of functionals within the unconstrained setting, mainly in L^p spaces. It prepares the ground for the second volume where the variational treatment of functionals involving fields and their derivatives will be undertaken within the framework of Sobolev spaces. This book is self-contained. All the statements are fully justified and proved, with the exception of basic results in measure theory, which may be found in any good textbook on the subject. It also contains several exercises. Therefore,it may be used both as a graduate textbook as well as a reference text for researchers in the field. Irene Fonseca is the Mellon College of Science Professor of Mathematics and is currently the Director of the Center for Nonlinear Analysis in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests lie in the areas of continuum mechanics, calculus of variations, geometric measure theory and partial differential equations. Giovanni Leoni is also a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. He focuses his research on calculus of variations, partial differential equations and geometric measure theory with special emphasis on applications to problems in continuum mechanics and in materials science.

Author: I. M. Gelfand
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486135012
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

View

Book Description
Fresh, lively text serves as a modern introduction to the subject, with applications to the mechanics of systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. Ideal for math and physics students.

Author: Hansjörg Kielhöfer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319711237
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

View

Book Description
This clear and concise textbook provides a rigorous introduction to the calculus of variations, depending on functions of one variable and their first derivatives. It is based on a translation of a German edition of the book Variationsrechnung (Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, 2010), translated and updated by the author himself. Topics include: the Euler-Lagrange equation for one-dimensional variational problems, with and without constraints, as well as an introduction to the direct methods. The book targets students who have a solid background in calculus and linear algebra, not necessarily in functional analysis. Some advanced mathematical tools, possibly not familiar to the reader, are given along with proofs in the appendix. Numerous figures, advanced problems and proofs, examples, and exercises with solutions accompany the book, making it suitable for self-study. The book will be particularly useful for beginning graduate students from the physical, engineering, and mathematical sciences with a rigorous theoretical background.

Author: Bernard Dacorogna
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387552499
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 616

View

Book Description
This book is developed for the study of vectorial problems in the calculus of variations. The subject is a very active one and almost half of the book consists of new material. This is a new edition of the earlier book published in 1989 and it is suitable for graduate students. The book has been updated with some new material and examples added. Applications are included.

Author: Michael Struwe
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662032120
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

View

Book Description
Hilbert's talk at the second International Congress of 1900 in Paris marked the beginning of a new era in the calculus of variations. A development began which, within a few decades, brought tremendous success, highlighted by the 1929 theorem of Ljusternik and Schnirelman on the existence of three distinct prime closed geodesics on any compact surface of genus zero, and the 1930/31 solution of Plateau's problem by Douglas and Radò. The book gives a concise introduction to variational methods and presents an overview of areas of current research in this field. This new edition has been substantially enlarged, a new chapter on the Yamabe problem has been added and the references have been updated. All topics are illustrated by carefully chosen examples, representing the current state of the art in their field.

Author: Bernard Dacorogna
Publisher: Imperial College Press
ISBN: 1848163339
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 241

View

Book Description
The calculus of variations is one of the oldest subjects in mathematics, yet is very much alive and is still evolving. Besides its mathematical importance and its links to other branches of mathematics, such as geometry or differential equations, it is widely used in physics, engineering, economics and biology.This book serves both as a guide to the expansive existing literature and as an aid to the non-specialist ? mathematicians, physicists, engineers, students or researchers ? in discovering the subject's most important problems, results and techniques. Despite the aim of addressing non-specialists, mathematical rigor has not been sacrificed; most of the theorems are either fully proved or proved under more stringent conditions.In this new edition, the chapter on regularity has been significantly expanded and 27 new exercises have been added. The book, containing a total of 103 exercises with detailed solutions, is well designed for a course at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Author: Mariano Giaquinta
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662032783
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 498

View

Book Description
This two-volume treatise is a standard reference in the field. It pays special attention to the historical aspects and the origins partly in applied problems—such as those of geometric optics—of parts of the theory. It contains an introduction to each chapter, section, and subsection and an overview of the relevant literature in the footnotes and bibliography. It also includes an index of the examples used throughout the book.

Author: U. Brechteken-Mandersch
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780412366901
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 216

View

Book Description
This text provides a clear, concise introduction to the calculus of variations. The introductory chapter provides a general sense of the subject through a discussion of several classical and contemporary examples of the subject's use.