Non-convex self-dual Lagrangians: New variational principles of symmetric boundary value problems

We study the concept and the calculus of Non-convex self-dual (Nc-SD) Lagrangians and their derived vector fields which are associated to many partial differential equations and evolution systems. They indeed provide new representations and formulations for the superposition of convex functions and symmetric operators. They yield new variational resolutions for large class of Hamiltonian partial differential equations with variety of linear and nonlinear boundary conditions including many of the standard ones. This approach seems to offer several useful advantages: It associates to a boundary value problem several potential functions which can often be used with relative ease compared to other methods such as the use of Euler– Lagrange functions. These potential functions are quite flexible, and can be adapted to easily deal with both nonlinear and homogeneous boundary value problems. Additionally, in most cases the solutions generated using this new method have greater regularity than the solutions obtained using the standard Euler–Lagrange function. Perhaps most remarkable, however, are the permanence properties of Nc-SD Lagrangians; their calculus is relatively manageable, and their applications are quite broad. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.