Contact transformations, Huygen's principle, and calculus of variations (Q1332704)

In the one-dimensional calculus of variations the notions of a Mayer flow and a Mayer field are fundamental concepts. For the convenience of the reader we have briefly recalled how these notions enter and what role they play. In particular they lead to a well-known mathematical model of the ray-wave duality in geometrical optics. Another model of this duality is provided by the theory of contact transformations, that is, by contact geometry. This approach leads to the notions of a Huygens field and a Huygens flow as fundamental concepts, which are investigated in our paper. In particular we explain by means of Huygens' principle why this new terminology might be appropriate. Formulas connected with Hölder's transformation are supplied, and we describe four different but equivalent pictures of the one-dimensional calculus of variations. Finally, we refer to some of the sources of this paper, in particular to the fundamental work of E. Hölder.