The multiplier problem of the calculus of variations for scalar ordinary differential equations (Q1751578)

Let \(L(x,p_0,p_1,\dots,p_n)\) be a given smooth function. The Euler-Lagrange equation for the given Lagrangian \(L(x,u,u^{\prime}, \dots, u^{(n)})\) is given by \[ EL[u](x)=\sum_{k=0}^n (-1)^k d^k/ dx^k \partial_{p_k} L(x,u(x), \dots, u^{(n)}(x))=0. \] The multiplier problem asks the converse question, i.e., given a differential equation \(u^{(2n)}(x)-f(x,u(x), \dots, u^{(2n-1)})=0\), is there a Lagrangian \(L(x,p_0, p_1, \dots, p_n)\) such that \(EL[u](x)=\rho(x)(u^{(2n)}(x)-f(x,u(x), \dots, u^{(2n-1)}))\) for all smooth functions \(u(x)\), with a fixed \(\rho(x)\)? The author proposes a solution to the multiplier problem for all \(2n\)-order equations.