A stochastic variational approach to viscous Burgers equations

We consider viscous Burgers equations in one dimension of space and derive their solutions from stochastic variational principles on the corresponding group of homeomorphisms. The metrics considered on this group are L ^p metrics. The velocity corresponds to the drift of some stochastic Lagrangian processes. Existence of minima is proved in some cases by direct methods. We also give a representation of the solutions of viscous Burgers equations in terms of stochastic forward-backward systems.