The Lagrangian-Hamiltonian formalism for higher-order field theories (Q974398)

In 1983, Skinner and Rusk developed a geometric framework which unified the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism for autonomous dynamical systems [\textit{R. Skinner} and \textit{R. Rusk}, J. Math. Phys. 24, 2589--2594 (1983; Zbl 0556.70012)]. This unified formalism has been extended later to different kinds of theories, such as non-autonomous dynamical systems, optimal control systems or classical field theories. In this work, the author presents a generalization of this model to higher-order classical field theories. He uses the multisymplectic formulation as the standpoint geometrical framework and, in this way, his work gives a complementary description to other papers in the same way [see \textit{C. M. Campos} et al., J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 475207--475230, \url{arXiv:0906.0389} (2009)]. As in the original article of Skinner and Rusk, this unified formalism allows to recover the standard Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for higher-order field theories, as well as the Legendre transformation. Furthermore, it overcomes some known ambiguities which were characteristic in the usual geometrical descriptions of higher-order Lagrangian and Hamiltonian field theories.