ADJOINT PROBLEMS IN THE CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS OF MULTIPLE INTEGRALS

Abstract

A general theory of adjoint variational problems is formulated for essentially arbitrary Lagrangians involving m independent and n dependent variables, together with the first derivatives of the latter, This approach contains as a special case the theory of Haar [4], in which the Lagrangian may depend solely on the derivatives of a single dependent function of two arguments. Because of the eventual occurrence of possibly incompatible sets of integrability conditions, the basic theory is developed against the background of non-integrable m-dimensional subspaces, which is in sharp contrast to the traditional approach to the calculus of variations. Relatively self-adjoint Lagrangians are defined and completely characterized in terms of an arbitrary Riemannian metric. In the course of the general theory certain geometric object fields are encountered in a very natural manner, some of which had arisen previously in the canonical formalism proposed by Caratheodory [2]. Accordingly the analysis of the present paper may serve to shed some light on this conceptually extremely difficult formalism.     

Hypersurfaces with constant mean curvature and prescribed area

Summary We consider—in the setting of geometric measure theory—hypersurfacesT (of codimension one) with prescribed boundaryB in Euclideann+1 space which maximize volume (i.e.T together with a fixed hypersurfaceT ₀ encloses oriented volume) subject to a mass constraint. We prove existence and optimal regularity of solutionsT of such variational problems and we show that, on the regular part of its support,T is a classical hypersurface of constant mean curvature. We also prove that the solutionsT become more and more spherical as the valuem of the mass constraint approaches ∞. This work was done at the Centre for Mathematics and its Applications at the Australian National University, Canberra while the author was a visiting member This article was processed by the author using the LAT_EX style filecljour1 from Springer-Verlag.     

Implicit time discretization for the mean curvature flow equation

In this paper we apply the method of implicit time discretization to the mean curvature flow equation including outer forces. In the framework ofBV-functions we construct discrete solutions iteratively by minimizing a suitable energy-functional in each time step. Employing geometric and variational arguments we show an energy estimate which assures compactness of the discrete solutions. An additional convergence condition excludes a loss of area in the limit. Thus existence of solutions to the continuous problem can be derived. We append a brief discussion of the related Mullins-Sekerka equation.This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through Sonderforschungsbereich 256, Bonn     

On the role of energy convexity in the web function approximation

For a given p > 1 and an open bounded convex set we consider the minimization problem for the functional over Since the energy of the unique minimizer u_p may not be computed explicitly, we restrict the minimization problem to the subspace of web functions, which depend only on the distance from the boundary δΩ. In this case, a representation formula for the unique minimizer v_p is available. Hence the problem of estimating the error one makes when approximating J_p(u_p) by J_p(v_p) arises. When Ω varies among convex bounded sets in the plane, we find an optimal estimate for such error, and we show that it is decreasing and infinitesimal with p. As p → ∞, we also prove that u_p − v_p converges to zero in for all m < ∞. These results reveal that the approximation of minima by means of web functions gains more and more precision as convexity in J_p increases.     

Differential form methods in the theory of variational systems and Lagrangian field theories

This paper will attempt to unify diverse material from physics and engineering in terms of differential forms on manifolds. A variational system will be defined by means of a scalar-valued differential form on a manifold and an ideal in the Grassmann algebra of differential forms on that manifold to serve as constraints. Two types of extremal submanifolds will be defined. The first-called the Euler-Lagrange extremals-will be defined by a method that is the generalization of the classical methods in the calculus of variations. The second—a generalization of a method used by Cartan in his treatise Leçons sur les invariants intégraux-will define extremals as integral submanifolds of an exterior differential system invariently attached to the variational system. As examples, the variational systems attached to string theories in Riemannian manifolds and Yang-Mills fields will be discussed from this differential form point of view. Finally, as application, the differential geometric properties and definition of energy will be presented from the differential form point of view.This work was supported by a grant from the Applied Mathematics program of the National Science Foundation.     

On W-solvability for special vectorial Hamilton-Jacobi systems

We study the solvability of special vectorial Hamilton-Jacobi systems of the form F(Du(x))=0 in a Sobolev space. In this paper we establish the general existence theorems for certain Dirichlet problems using suitable approximation schemes called W^1,p-reduction principles that generalize the similar reduction principle for Lipschitz solutions. Our approach, to a large extent, unifies the existing methods for the existence results of the special Hamilton-Jacobi systems under study. The method relies on a new Baire's category argument concerning the residual continuity of a Baire-one function. Some sufficient conditions for W^1,p-reduction are also given along with certain generalization of some known results and a specific application to the boundary value problem for special weakly quasiregular mappings.     

Evolution equations for shapes and geometries

The first object of this paper is to introduce a new evolution equation for the characteristic function of the boundary Γ of a Lipschitzian domain Ω in the N-dimensional Euclidean space under the influence of a smooth time-dependent velocity field. The originality of this equation is that the evolution takes place in an L^p-space with respect to the (N − 1)-Hausdorff measure. A second more speculative objective is to discuss how that equation can be relaxed to rougher velocity fields via some weak formulation. A candidate is presented and some of the technical difficulties and open issues are discussed. Continuity results in several metric topologies are also presented. The paper also specializes the results on the evolution of the oriented distance function to initial sets with zero N-dimensional Lebesgue measure.     

Total Least-Squares regularization of Tykhonov type and an ancient racetrack in Corinth

In this contribution a variation of Golub/Hansen/O’Leary’s Total Least-Squares (TLS) regularization technique is introduced, based on the Hybrid APproximation Solution (HAPS) within a nonlinear Gauss-Helmert Model. By applying a traditional Lagrange approach to a series of iteratively linearized Gauss-Helmert Models, a new iterative scheme has been found that, in practice, can generate the Tykhonov regularized TLS solution, provided that some care is taken to do the updates properly.The algorithm actually parallels the standard TLS approach as recommended in some of the geodetic literature, but unfortunately all too often in combination with erroneous updates that would still show convergence, although not necessarily to the (unregularized) TLS solution. Here, a key feature is that both standard and regularized TLS solutions result from the same computational framework, unlike the existing algorithms for Tykhonov-type TLS regularization.The new algorithm is then applied to a problem from archeology. There, both the radius and the center-point coordinates of a circle have to be determined, of which only a small part of the arc had been surveyed in-situ, thereby giving rise to an ill-conditioned set of equations. According to the archaeologists involved, this circular arc served as the starting line of a racetrack in the ancient Greek stadium of Corinth, ca. 500 BC. The present study compares previous estimates of the circle parameters with the newly developed “Regularized TLS Solution of Tykhonov type.”     

New upper solution bounds of the discrete algebraic Riccati matrix equation

In this note, we present upper matrix bounds for the solution of the discrete algebraic Riccati equation (DARE). Using the matrix bound of Theorem 2.2, we then give several eigenvalue upper bounds for the solution of the DARE and make comparisons with existing results. The advantage of our results over existing upper bounds is that the new upper bounds of Theorem 2.2 and Corollary 2.1 are always calculated if the stabilizing solution of the DARE exists, whilst all existing upper matrix bounds might not be calculated because they have been derived under stronger conditions. Finally, we give numerical examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the derived results.     

Stability for hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature with free boundary

The partitioning problem for a smooth convex bodyB ³ consists in to study, among surfaces which divideB in two pieces of prescribed volume, those which are critical points of the area functional.We study stable solutions of the above problem: we obtain several topological and geometrical restrictions for this kind of surfaces. In the case thatB is a Euclidean ball we obtain stronger results.Antonio Ros is partially supported by DGICYT grant PB91-0731 and Enaldo Vergasta is partially supported by CNPq grant 202326/91-8.