Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-1/9/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2024 Paper 1 9 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
This is an isoperimetric constraint, imposed on the whole path rather than separately at each time. Introduce a constant Lagrange multiplier and replace the variational integrand by . The modified Euler-Lagrange equations areSolve these together with the fixed endpoint conditions, treating as an unknown constant, then choose its value so thatThe multiplier is constant because there is one scalar integral constraint. A condition imposed at every time would instead call for a time-dependent multiplier. As usual, this multiplier procedure assumes the constraint is regular, so its first variation does not vanish identically on all admissible variations.
New to topics? Read the docs here!