On a class of special Euler–Lagrange equations

Abstract

We make some remarks on the Euler–Lagrange equation of energy functional $I(u)=\int _\Omega f(\det Du)\,{\rm d}x,$ where $f\in C^1(\mathbb {R}).$ For certain weak solutions $u$ we show that the function $f'(\det Du)$ must be a constant over the domain $\Omega$ and thus, when $f$ is convex, all such solutions are an energy minimizer of $I(u).$ However, other weak solutions exist such that $f'(\det Du)$ is not constant on $\Omega.$ We also prove some results concerning the homeomorphism solutions, non-quasimonotonicity and radial solutions, and finally we prove some stability results and discuss some related questions concerning certain approximate solutions in the 2-Dimensional cases.