The classical theory of calculus of variations for generalized functions

Abstract

Abstract We present an extension of the classical theory of calculus of variations to generalized functions. The framework is the category of generalized smooth functions, which includes Schwartz distributions, while sharing many nonlinear properties with ordinary smooth functions. We prove full connections between extremals and Euler–Lagrange equations, classical necessary and sufficient conditions to have a minimizer, the necessary Legendre condition, Jacobi’s theorem on conjugate points and Noether’s theorem. We close with an application to low regularity Riemannian geometry.