This is based on the course 'Calculus of Variations' taught at Peking University from 2006 to 2010 for advanced undergraduate to graduate students majoring in mathematics. The book contains 20 lectures covering both the theoretical background material as well as an abundant collection of applications. Lectures 1-8 focus on the classical theory of calculus of variations. Lectures 9-14 introduce direct methods along with their theoretical foundations. Lectures 15-20 showcase a broad collection of applications. The book offers a panoramic view of the very important topic on calculus of variations. This is a valuable resource not only to mathematicians, but also to those students in engineering, economics, and management, etc.

With a historical overview by Elvira Mascolo

This book contains a series of papers on some of the longstanding research problems of geometry, calculus of variations, and their applications. It is suitable for advanced graduate students, teachers, research mathematicians, and other professionals in mathematics.

This book is developed for the study of vectorial problems in the calculus of variations. The subject is a very active one and almost half of the book consists of new material. This is a new edition of the earlier book published in 1989 and it is suitable for graduate students. The book has been updated with some new material and examples added. Applications are included.

Calculus of variations is one of the most important mathematical tools of great scientific significance used by scientistis and engineers. Unfortunately, a few books that are available are written at a level which is not easily comprehensible for postgraduate students.This book, written by a highly respected academic, presents the materials in a lucid manner so as to be within the easy grasp of the students with some background in calculus, differential equations and functional analysis. The aim is to give a thorough and systematic analysis of various aspects of calculus of variations.

This well-written book contains the analytical tools, concepts, and viewpoints needed for modern applied mathematics. It treats various practical methods for solving problems such as differential equations, boundary value problems, and integral equations. Pragmatic approaches to difficult equations are presented, including the Galerkin method, the method of iteration, Newton’s method, projection techniques, and homotopy methods.