scientific article; zbMATH DE number 177116

Inverse problems in optimal control (49N45) Exterior differential systems (Cartan theory) (58A15) Jets in global analysis (58A20) Variational principles in infinite-dimensional spaces (58E30)

Review text

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0755.00014.] The first part of this paper is, as its title suggests, a review on the theory of the formal calculus of variations. The second part is a survey on some recent and new results. The paper starts with a brief introduction on the starting point of this theory: the inverse problem of the calculus of variations, i.e., to decide when a given differential operator is the Euler-Lagrange operator for some Lagrangian. The differential geometric generalization of the Helmholtz conditions and other properties lead to define the bivariational complex. The basic data is a fiber bundle \(\pi: E\to M\) from which is constructed \(J^ \infty(E)\), the infinite dimensional manifold of infinite order jets of local sections. Two main operations with vector fields can be defined: vector fields on \(E\) can be prolonged to \(J^ \infty(E)\) and vector fields on the base manifold \(M\) can be horizontally lifted to \(J^ \infty(E)\) by means of the total derivative. Both operations, the first one restricted to vertical vector fields, allow to define a bigraduation of the module of differential forms on \(J^ \infty(E)\) and to split the exterior derivative into the horizontal and vertical derivatives. The three constructed data are the constituents of the bivariational complex and it resembles the Dolbeault cohomology. The exactness of the augmented variational complex, a slight modification of the previous one, was one main achievement of the theory and it gives, via its cohomology, the answer of the general inverse problem. The second part of the paper studies some methods to compute some specific bivariational complexes, in particular when some a priori conditions are imposed like invariance under a transformation group or when the local sections must fulfil a given set of differential equations. These modifications of the free bivariational complex lead to a wide range of applications into areas not directly related to the calculus of variations. The paper is clearly written, main proofs are sketched, the reader can find many illustrative examples and the statement of some open problems. It provides a quick insight into the state of art of the bivariational complex and related problems.

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