A non-standard class of variational problems of Herglotz type

Abstract

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>In this paper, we extend the variational problem of Herglotz considering the case where the Lagrangian depends not only on the independent variable, an unknown function <inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> and its derivative and an unknown functional <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ z $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>, but also on the end points conditions and a real parameter. Herglotz's problems of calculus of variations of this type cannot be solved using the standard theory. Main results of this paper are necessary optimality condition of Euler-Lagrange type, natural boundary conditions and the Dubois-Reymond condition for our non-standard variational problem of Herglotz type. We also prove a necessary optimality condition that arises as a consequence of the Lagrangian dependence of the parameter. Our results not only provide a generalization to previous results, but also give some other interesting optimality conditions as special cases. In addition, two examples are given in order to illustrate our results.</p>