This is the first part of a treatise covering calculus of variations in breadth and depth, paying special attention to the historical origins, partly in applications, for example from geometrical optics, of parts of the theory. A variety of aids to the reader are provided, including an introduction to each chapter, section and subsection and historical footnotes. Later volumes deal with direct methods and regularity theory.
of Calculus of Variations I.- 1. The First Variation.- 2. Variational Problems with Subsidiary Conditions.- 3. General Variational Formulas.- 4. Second Variation, Excess Function, Convexity.- 5. Weak Minimizers and Jacobi Theory.- 6. Weierstrass Field Theory for One-Dimensional Integrals and Strong Minimizers.- Supplement. Some Facts from Differential Geometry and Analysis.- 1. Euclidean Spaces.- 2. Some Function Classes.- 3. Vector and Covector Fields. Transformation Rules.- 4. Differential Forms.- 6. Mean Curvature and Gauss Curvature.