Lagrangian mechanics without ordinary differential equations

This paper surveys some results by the author and collaborators on the existence of invariant Lagrangian graphs for Tonelli Hamiltonian systems. The presentation is based on an invited talk by the author at XIX Congresso Unione Matematica Italiana (Bologna, 12-17 Sept. 2011).

In this note we present invariant formulation of the d'Alambert principle and classical time-dependent Lagrangian mechanics with holonomic constraints from the perspective of moving frames.

We deal with Lagrangian systems that are invariant under the action of a symmetry group. The mechanical connection is a principal connection that is associated to Lagrangians which have a kinetic energy function that is defined by a Riemannian metric. In this paper we extend this notion to arbitrary Lagrangians. We then derive the reduced Lagrange-Poincare equations in a new fashion and we show how solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equations can be reconstructed with the help o...

This work builds on the Volterra series formalism presented in [D. W. Dreisigmeyer and P. M. Young, J. Phys. A \textbf{36}, 8297, (2003)] to model nonconservative systems. Here we treat Lagrangians and actions as `time dependent' Volterra series. We present a new family of kernels to be used in these Volterra series that allow us to derive a single retarded equation of motion using a variational principle.

In this paper, we propose a modified formal Lagrangian formulation by introducing dummy dependent variables and prove the existence of such a formulation for any system of differential equations. The corresponding Euler--Lagrange equations, consisting of the original system and its adjoint system about the dummy variables, reduce to the original system via a simple substitution for the dummy variables. The formulation is applied to study conservation laws of differential equa...

A relation between variational principles for equations of continuum mechanics in Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions is considered. It is shown that for a system of differential equations in Eulerian variables corresponding Lagrangian description is related to introducing nonlocal variables. The connection between these descriptions is obtained in terms of differential coverings. The relation between variational principles of a system of equations and its symplectic structu...

It is well known that the equations of motion obtained from Newtons second law of motion can be obtained from a Lagrangian via the Euler-Lagrangian formulation if and only if the equations of motion satisfy the Helmholtz conditions. In this pedagogical article we give a simple proof of the above statement and show its application to simple mechanical and dissipative systems.

We study the geometry underlying mechanics and its application to describe autonomous and nonautonomous conservative dynamical systems of different types; as well as dissipative dynamical systems. We use different geometric descriptions to study the main properties and characteristics of these systems; such as their Lagrangian, Hamiltonian and unified formalisms, their symmetries, the variational principles, and others. The study is done mainly for the regular case, although ...

We introduce the differential, integral, and variational delta-embeddings. We prove that the integral delta-embedding of the Euler-Lagrange equations and the variational delta-embedding coincide on an arbitrary time scale. In particular, a new coherent embedding for the discrete calculus of variations that is compatible with the least action principle is obtained.

This paper presents (in its Lagrangian version) a very general "historical" formalism for dynamical systems, including time-dynamics and field theories. It is based on the universal notion of history. Its condensed and universal formulation provides a synthesis and a generalization different approaches of dynamics. It is in our sense closer to its real essence. The formalism is by construction explicitely covariant and does not require the introduction of time, or of a time f...