Double complexes and cohomological hierarchy in a space of weakly invariant Lagrangians of mechanics (Q1304728)

For a fixed finite-dimensional configuration manifold \(M\) and a fixed finite-dimensional Lie algebra \({\mathcal{G}}\), the authors consider the space \({\mathcal{V}}_{0,0}\) of weakly \({\mathcal{G}}\)-invariant Lagrangians on \(M\). Here a Lagrangian \(L\) is called weakly \({\mathcal{G}}\)-invariant if the left-hand side of the Euler-Lagrange equation \({d \over {dt}} {{\partial L} \over {\partial {\dot{q}}^{\mu}}} - {{\partial L} \over {\partial q^{\mu}}} = 0\) is invariant with respect to \({\mathcal{G}}\). On the space \({\mathcal{V}}_{0,0}\), a hierarchy is introduced by constructing the cohomology of a derivative operator \(Q = d_{E.L.} \pm \delta\), where \(d_{E.L.}\) denotes the variational derivative whose action leads to the Euler-Lagrange equation, and \(\delta\) is related to the symmetries. The general results are illustrated by taking as \({\mathcal{G}}\) the Lie algebra of the rotation group, the Poincaré group, and the Galilean group.