This note presents an attempt to provide a conceptual framework for variational formulations of classical physics. Variational principles of physics have all a common source in the {\it principle of virtual work} well known in statics of mechanical systems. This principle is presented here as the first step in characterizing local stable equilibria of static systems. An extended analysis of local equilibria is given for systems with configuration manifolds of finite dimensions. Numerous examples of the principle of virtual work and the Legendre transformation applied to static mechanical systems are provided. Configuration spaces for the dynamics of autonomous mechanical systems and for statics of continua are constructed in the final sections. These configuration spaces are not differential manifolds.
Minimization variational principles for linear elastodynamic, acoustic, or electromagnetic time-harmonic waves in dissipative media were obtained by Milton, Seppecher and Bouchitté generalizing the quasistatic variational principles of Cherkaev and Gibiansky. Here a further generalization is made to allow for a much wider variety of boundary conditions, and in particular Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. In addition minimization or maximization principles of the Hashin-Shtrikman type, incorporating "polarization fields", are developed.
Some little considerations concerning the application of the Theory of Dirichlet Forms to stocastic variational principle on riemannian manifolds are performed
Assume that A is a bounded selfadjoint operator in a Hilbert space H. Then, the variational principle is obtained for some functional. As an application of this principle, a variational principle for the electrical capacitance of a conductor of an arbitrary shape is derived.
We give a two parameter variational formula for the grand-canonical pressure of the Pair Boson Hamiltonian model. By using the Approximating Hamiltonian Method we provide a rigorous proof of this variational principle.
We formulate a variational principle for a collection of projectors in an indefinite inner product space. The existence of minimizers is proved in various situations.
We state a unified geometrical version of the variational principles for second-order classical field theories. The standard Lagrangian and Hamiltonian variational principles and the corresponding field equations are recovered from this unified framework.
We reinterpret the Thouless-Anderson-Palmer approach to mean field spin glass models as a variational principle in the spirit of the Gibbs variational principle and the Bragg-Williams approximation. We prove this TAP-Plefka variational principle rigorously in the case of the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model.
This paper introduces and studies a field theoretic analogue of the Clebsch variational principle of classical mechanics. This principle yields an alternative derivation of the covariant Euler-Poincaré equations that naturally includes covariant Clebsch variables via multisymplectic momentum maps. In the case of diffeomorphism groups, this approach gives a new interpretation of recently derived singular peakon solutions of Diff(R)-strand equations, and allows for the construction of singular solutions (such as filaments or sheets) for a more general class of equations, called covariant EPDiff …
We describe the Hamiltonian structures, including the Poisson brackets and Hamiltonians, for free boundary problems for incompressible fluid flows with vorticity. The Hamiltonian structure is used to obtain variational principles for stationary gravity waves both for irrotational flows as well as flows with vorticity.
In many relevant cases -- e.g., in hamiltonian dynamics -- a given vector field can be characterized by means of a variational principle based on a one-form. We discuss how a vector field on a manifold can also be characterized in a similar way by means of an higher order variational principle, and how this extends to involutive systems of vector fields.
We propose an alternative variational principle whose critical point is the algebraic plane curve associated to a matrix model (the spectral curve, i.e. the large $N$ limit of the resolvent). More generally, we consider a variational principle that is equivalent to the problem of finding a plane curve with given asymptotics and given cycle integrals. This variational principle is not given by extremization of the energy, but by the extremization of an "entropy".
We introduce a class of variational principles on measure spaces which are causal in the sense that they generate a relation on pairs of points, giving rise to a distinction between spacelike and timelike separation. General existence results are proved. It is shown in examples that minimizers need not be unique. Counter examples to compactness are discussed. The existence results are applied to variational principles formulated in indefinite inner product spaces.
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 structures is discussed. It is shown that if a system of equations in Lagrangian variables can be derived from a variational pr…
Time-dependent expectation values and correlation functions for many-body quantum systems are evaluated by means of a unified variational principle. It optimizes a generating functional depending on sources associated with the observables of interest $\ldots$
We provide a variational description of any Liouville (i.e. volume preserving) autonomous vector fields on a smooth manifold. This is obtained via a ``maximal degree'' variational principle; critical sections for this are integral manifolds for the Liouville vector field. We work in coordinates and provide explicit formulae.
We show how to "concatenate" variational principles over different bases into one over a single base, thereby providing a unified Lagrangian treatment of interacting systems. As an example we study a Klein-Gordon field interacting with a mesically charged particle. We employ our method to give a novel group-theoretic derivation of the kinetic stress-energy-momentum tensor density corresponding to the particle.
We consider steady three-dimensional gravity-capillary water waves with vorticity propagating on water of finite depth. We prove a variational principle for doubly periodic waves with relative velocities given by Beltrami vector fields, under general assumptions on the wave profile.
We consider perturbations of Hamiltonians whose Fourier symbol attains its minimum along a hypersurface. Such operators arise in several domains, like spintronics, theory of supercondictivity, or theory of superfluidity. Variational estimates for the number of eigenvalues below the essential spectrum in terms of the perturbation potential are provided. In particular, we provide an elementary proof that negative potentials lead to an infinite discrete spectrum.
A formal methodology for developing variational principles corresponding to a given nonlinear PDE system is discussed. The scheme is demonstrated in the context of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, systems of first-order conservation laws, and systems of Hamilton- Jacobi equations.
This paper presents symmetry reduction for material stochastic Lagrangian systems with advected quantities whose configuration space is a Lie group. Such variational principles yield deterministic as well as stochastic constrained variational principles for dissipative equations of motion in spatial representation. The general theory is presented for the finite dimensional situation. In infinite dimensions we obtain partial differential equations and stochastic partial differential equations. When the Lie group is, for example, a diffeomorphism group, the general result is not directly applica…
Porous metal bearings are widely used in small and micro devices. To compute the pressure one has to solve the Reynolds equation coupled with the Laplace equation. We show that it is possible to give to the relevant boundary value problem a variational formulation. We show that the pressure inside a porous bearing is less then that of the corresponding non-porous bearing.
In the theory of causal fermion systems, the physical equations are obtained as the Euler-Lagrange equations of a causal variational principle. Studying families of critical measures of causal variational principles, a class of conserved surface layer integrals is found and analyzed.
It is shown that the linearized fields of causal variational principles give rise to linear bosonic quantum field theories. The properties of these field theories are studied and compared with the axioms of local quantum physics. Distinguished quasi-free states are constructed.
Spearheaded by the recent efforts to derive stochastic geophysical fluid dynamics models, we present a generic framework for introducing stochasticity into variational principles through the concept of a semi-martingale driven variational principle and constraining the component variables to be compatible with the driving semi-martingale. Within this framework and the corresponding choice of constraints, the Euler-Poincare equation can be easily deduced. We show that their corresponding deterministic counterparts are particular cases of this class of stochastic variational principles. Moreover…
Hamilton variational principle for special type of statistical ensemble of deterministic dynamical systems is derived. Thie form of variational principle allows one to describe the statistical ensemble in terms of wave functions and provides a basis for a description of statistical ensemble of stochastic systems. It is shown that sometimes such a statistical description of stochastic particle motion appears to coincide with the quantum description in terms of Schroedinger equation.
Euler-Lagrange variational principle is used to obtain analytical and numerical flow relations in cylindrical tubes. The method is based on minimizing the total stress in the flow duct using the fluid constitutive relation between stress and rate of strain. Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid models; which include power law, Bingham, Herschel-Bulkley, Carreau and Cross; are used for demonstration.
In the variational principle leading to the Euler equation for a perfect fluid, we can use the method of undetermined multiplier for holonomic constraints representing mass conservation and adiabatic condition. For a dissipative fluid, the latter condition is replaced by the constraint specifying how to dissipate. Noting that this constraint is nonholonomic, we can derive the balance equation of momentum for viscous and viscoelastic fluids by using a single variational principle. We can also derive the associated Hamiltonian formulation by regarding the velocity field as the input in the frame…
We formulate the initial value problem for causal variational principles in the continuous setting on a compact metric space. The existence and uniqueness of solutions is analyzed. The results are illustrated by simple examples.
This paper presents the geometric setting of quantum variational principles and extends it to comprise the interaction between classical and quantum degrees of freedom. Euler-Poincaré reduction theory is applied to the Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Wigner-Moyal dynamics of pure states. This construction leads to new variational principles for the description of mixed quantum states. The corresponding momentum map properties are presented as they arise from the underlying unitary symmetries. Finally, certain semidirect-product group structures are shown to produce new variational principles for D…
We reformulate the relativistic perfect fluid system on curved space-time. Using standard variables, the velocity field $u$,energy density $ρ$ and pressure $p$, the covariant Euler-Lagrange equation is obtained from variational principle. This leads to the Euler equation and the equation of continuity in reparametrization invariant form.
The noncanonical Hamiltonian formulation of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is used to construct variational principles for symmetric equilibrium configurations of magnetized plasma including flow. In particular, helical symmetry is considered and results on axial and translational symmetries are retrieved as special cases of the helical configurations. The symmetry condition, which allows the description in terms of a magnetic flux function, is exploited to deduce a symmetric form of the noncanonical Poisson bracket of MHD. Casimir invariants are then obtained directly from the Poisson bracket. Eq…
An application of variational principle to bifurcation of periodic solution in Lagrangian mechanics is shown. A few higher derivatives of the action integral at a periodic solution reveals the behaviour of the action in function space near the solution. Then the variational principle gives a method to find bifurcations from the solution. The second derivative (Hessian) of the action has an important role. At a bifurcation point, an eigenvalue of Hessian tends to zero. Inversely, if an eigenvalue tends to zero, the zero point is a bifurcation point. The third and higher derivatives of the actio…
It is shown that there exists a commuting diagram of mappings between dynamics of classical systems on one side and variational principles for geodesic lines in stationary spacetimes of general relativity on the other. The construction of the mappings is based on classical Routh's and Jacobi's procedures and on corresponding inverse procedures which are reviewed in the paper.
The classical energy minimization principles of Dirichlet and Thompson are extended as minimization principles to acoustics, elastodynamics and electromagnetism in lossy inhomogeneous bodies at fixed frequency. This is done by building upon ideas of Cherkaev and Gibiansky, who derived minimization variational principles for quasistatics. In the absence of free current the primary electromagnetic minimization variational principles have a minimum which is the time-averaged electrical power dissipated in the body. The variational principles provide constraints on the boundary values of the field…
We revisit the basic variational formulation of the minimization problem associated with the micromagnetic energy, with an emphasis on the treatment of the stray field contribution to the energy, which is intrinsically non-local. Under minimal assumptions, we establish three distinct variational principles for the stray field energy: a minimax principle involving magnetic scalar potential and two minimization principles involving magnetic vector potential. We then apply our formulations to the dimension reduction problem for thin ferromagnetic shells of arbitrary shapes.
In this work we recast the collisional Vlasov-Maxwell and Vlasov-Poisson equations as systems of coupled stochastic and partial differential equations, and we derive stochastic variational principles which underlie such reformulations. We also propose a stochastic particle method for the collisional Vlasov-Maxwell equations and provide a variational characterization of it, which can be used as a basis for a further development of stochastic structure-preserving particle-in-cell integrators.
The recent researches in non equilibrium and far from equilibrium systems have been proved to be useful for their applications in different disciplines and many subjects. A general principle to approach all these phenomena with a unique method of analysis is required in science and engineering: a variational principle would have this fundamental role. Here, the Gouy-Stodola theorem is proposed to be this general variational principle, both proving that it satisfies the above requirements and relating it to a statistical results on entropy production.
Variational principles for magnetohydrodynamics were introduced by previous authors both in Lagrangian and Eulerian form. In a previous work Yahalom & Lynden-Bell introduced a simpler Eulerian variational principles from which all the relevant equations of magnetohydrodynamics can be derived. The variational principle was given in terms of six independent functions for non-stationary flows and three independent functions for stationary flows. This is less then the seven variables which appear in the standard equations of magnetohydrodynamics which are the magnetic field $\vec B$ the velocity f…
The recent proof by F. Guerra that the Parisi ansatz provides a lower bound on the free energy of the SK spin-glass model could have been taken as offering some support to the validity of the purported solution. In this work we present a broader variational principle, in which the lower bound, as well as the actual value, are obtained through an optimization procedure for which ultrametic/hierarchal structures form only a subset of the variational class. The validity of Parisi's ansatz for the SK model is still in question. The new variational principle may be of help in critical review of the…
In this paper a new approach is proposed to quantize mechanical systems whose equations of motion can not be put into Hamiltonian form. This approach is based on a new type of variational principle, which is adopted to a describe a relation: a damping particle may shares a common phase curve with a free particle, whose Lagrangian in the new variational principle can be considered as a Lagrangian density in phase space. According to Feynman's theory, the least action principle is adopted to modify the Feynman's path integral formula, where Lagrangian is replaced by Lagrangian density. In the ca…
A variational principle is proposed for obtaining the Jacobi equations in systems admitting a Lagrangian description. The variational principle gives simultaneously the Lagrange equations of motion and the Jacobi variational equations for the system. The approach can be of help in finding constants of motion in the Jacobi equations as well as in analysing the stability of the systems and can be related to the vertical extension of the Lagrangian formalism. To exemplify two of such aspects, we uncover a constant of motion in the Jacobi equations of autonomous systems and we recover the well-kno…
