Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Bologna, P'zza Porta San Donato 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy Y E-mail: lazzari@dm.unibo.it W E-mail: nibbi@dm.unibo.it
Abstract:
A history of variational principles is presented through theirapplications to linear models arising from the theory of electromagnetism.This historical survey is enriched by some original contribution.