A constructive approach to nonlocal variational mechanics

Abstract

A novel approach to nonlocal variational problems is presented using Balakrishnan's epsilon technique. The minimum conditions are derived for the variational problem bearing restricted implicit nonlocality, and for the general problem with nonlocal constraints. The epsilon technique set up provides a simple direct method for constructing the extended Lagrangian function, and yields a constructive method for introducing the Lagrange multipliers.