Calculus of Variations

Thisconcisetextoffersbothprofessionalsandstudentsanintroductiontothefundamentalsandstandardmethodsofthecalculusofvariations.Inadditiontosurveysofproblemswithfixedandmovableboundaries,itexploreshighlypracticaldirectmethodsforthesolutionofvariationalproblems.Topicsincludethemethodofvariationinproblemswithfixedboundaries;variationalproblemswithmovableboundariesandotherproblems;sufficiencyconditionsforanextremum;variationalproblemsofconstrainedextrema;anddirectmethodsofsolvingvariationalproblems.Eachchapterfeaturesnumerousillustrativeproblems,andsolutionsappearattheend.