Uniqueness Theorems for Variational Problems by the Method of Transformation Groups

A classical problem in the calculus of variations is the investigation of critical points of functionals {\cal L} on normed spaces V. The present work addresses the question: Under what conditions on the functional {\cal L} and the underlying space V does {\cal L} have at most one critical point? A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Reichel, Wolfgang
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Berlin, Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2004, 2004
Edition:1st ed. 2004
Series:Lecture Notes in Mathematics
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Springer Book Archives -2004 - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:A classical problem in the calculus of variations is the investigation of critical points of functionals {\cal L} on normed spaces V. The present work addresses the question: Under what conditions on the functional {\cal L} and the underlying space V does {\cal L} have at most one critical point? A sufficient condition for uniqueness is given: the presence of a "variational sub-symmetry", i.e., a one-parameter group G of transformations of V, which strictly reduces the values of {\cal L}. The "method of transformation groups" is applied to second-order elliptic boundary value problems on Riemannian manifolds. Further applications include problems of geometric analysis and elasticity
Physical Description:XIV, 158 p online resource
ISBN:9783540409151