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In the calculus of variations and classical mechanics, the Euler–Lagrange equations [1] are a system of second-order ordinary differential equations whose solutions are stationary points of the given action functional. The equations were discovered in the 1750s by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler and Italian mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.
These equations for solution of a first-order partial differential equation are identical to the Euler–Lagrange equations if we make the identification = ˙ ˙. We conclude that the function ψ {\displaystyle \psi } is the value of the minimizing integral A {\displaystyle A} as a function of the upper end point.
It is possible to derive modified EL equations for a Lagrangian containing higher order derivatives, see Euler–Lagrange equation for details. However, from the physical point-of-view there is an obstacle to include time derivatives higher than the first order, which is implied by Ostrogradsky's construction of a canonical formalism for ...
To simplify the notation, let = ˙ and define a collection of n 2 functions Φ j i by =. Theorem. (Douglas 1941) There exists a Lagrangian L : [0, T] × TM → R such that the equations (E) are its Euler–Lagrange equations if and only if there exists a non-singular symmetric matrix g with entries g ij depending on both u and v satisfying the following three Helmholtz conditions:
The Beltrami identity, named after Eugenio Beltrami, is a special case of the Euler–Lagrange equation in the calculus of variations. The Euler–Lagrange equation serves to extremize action functionals of the form [] = [, (), ′ ()],
This is a generalization of the Euler–Lagrange equation: indeed, the functional derivative was introduced in physics within the derivation of the Lagrange equation of the second kind from the principle of least action in Lagrangian mechanics (18th century).
A Lagrangian density L (or, simply, a Lagrangian) of order r is defined as an n-form, n = dim X, on the r-order jet manifold J r Y of Y. A Lagrangian L can be introduced as an element of the variational bicomplex of the differential graded algebra O ∗ ∞ ( Y ) of exterior forms on jet manifolds of Y → X .
The relativistic Lagrangian can be derived in relativistic mechanics to be of the form: = (˙) (, ˙,). Although, unlike non-relativistic mechanics, the relativistic Lagrangian is not expressed as difference of kinetic energy with potential energy, the relativistic Hamiltonian corresponds to total energy in a similar manner but without including rest energy.