Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-calculus-of-variations-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/1/b/ii/solution

The integrand is nonnegative. Define the Lipschitz triangular waves
They have zero endpoint values, slope almost everywhere, and height . Hence almost everywhere. On each of the equal cells, direct integration of the fourth power of the two affine pieces gives . Therefore
This is an oscillating minimizing sequence with no minimizer.
Figure 1.
Oscillations keep the derivative at the two wells while the amplitude vanishes
. Details.

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