Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-calculus-of-variations-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/1/b/i/solution
Past exam of the calculus of variations course of the University of Oxford 2010 1 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Zero is a strict weak local minimizer, but is not a strong local minimizer. Put . Since , the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives , and thereforeFor sufficiently small , pointwise. Hencewith equality only when . Thus zero is a strict weak local minimizer of a variational integral.
For the strong claim, define a Lipschitz triangular waveIt has zero endpoint values, , and almost everywhere. Thus , while is nonzero on a set of positive measure. ConsequentlyThese uniformly small competitors disprove the strong local minimizer of a variational integral property.
New to topics? Read the docs here!