Modern Methods in the Calculus of Variations: L^p Spaces (Springer Monographs in Mathematics) - Hardcover

Fonseca, Irene; Leoni, Giovanni

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038735784X ISBN 13: 9780387357843

Publisher: Springer, 2007

Synopsis

This is the first of two books on methods and techniques in the calculus of variations. Contemporary arguments are used throughout the text to streamline and present in a unified way classical results, and to provide novel contributions at the forefront of the theory.

This book addresses fundamental questions related to lower semicontinuity and relaxation of functionals within the unconstrained setting, mainly in L^p spaces. It prepares the ground for the second volume where the variational treatment of functionals involving fields and their derivatives will be undertaken within the framework of Sobolev spaces.

This book is self-contained. All the statements are fully justified and proved, with the exception of basic results in measure theory, which may be found in any good textbook on the subject. It also contains several exercises. Therefore,it may be used both as a graduate textbook as well as a reference text for researchers in the field.

Irene Fonseca is the Mellon College of Science Professor of Mathematics and is currently the Director of the Center for Nonlinear Analysis in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.

Her research interests lie in the areas of continuum mechanics, calculus of variations, geometric measure theory and partial differential equations.

Giovanni Leoni is also a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. He focuses his research on calculus of variations, partial differential equations and geometric measure theory with special emphasis on applications to problems in continuum mechanics and in materials science.

About this title

Review

From the reviews:

"This book is intended as a graduate textbook and reference for those who work in the modern calculus of variations. ... interesting examples and exercises help to keep the reader on track. Several open problems are indicated as well. ... excellent presentation." (Erik J. Balder, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 m)

"This book is the first of two volumes in the calculus of variations and measure theory. The main objective of this book is to introduce necessary and sufficient conditions for sequential lower semicontinuity of functionals on Lp-spaces. ... This book is very nicely written, self-contained and it is an excellent and modern introduction to the calculus of variations." (Jean-Pierre Raymond, Zentrablatt MATH, Vol. 1153, 2009)

“This is the first of a two-volume introduction into direct methods in the calculus of variations. Its main topic is the analysis of necessary and sufficient conditions for lower semicontinuity on Lp-spaces, as well as of relaxation techniques. ... The book provides a well-written and self-contained introduction to an active area of research and will be valuable both to graduate students as an introduction and to researchers in the field as a reference work.” (M. Kunzinger, Monatshefte für Mathematik, Vol. 156 (4), April, 2009)

Synopsis

This is the first of two books in the Calculus of Variations and Measure Theory where many results, some now classical and others at the forefront of research in the subject, are gathered in a unified, consistent way. Contemporary arguments are used throughout the text, streamlining well-known aspects of the theory, while providing novel contributions. The first book prepares the ground for the second in that it introduces and develops the basic tools in the Calculus of Variations and in Measure Theory needed to address fundamental questions in the treatment of functionals involving derivatives. This book offers a comprehensive and unified treatment of lower semicontinuity and relaxation of functionals without derivatives. It is self-contained in the sense that, with the exception of fundamentally basic results in Measure Theory which may be found in any textbook in the subject (e.g. Lebesgue Dominated Convergence Theorem), all the statements are fully justified and proved. This book is written in a multilayered way in that graduate students and researchers with different backgrounds may access different parts of the text.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 038735784X
• ISBN 13: 9780387357843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 614