Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / Paper 1 / 9 / a / Solution

For fixed endpoint values and smooth admissible variations, the Euler-Lagrange equation isThe first variation follows by integrating $\int (f_z\eta +f_{z^{\prime }}{\eta }^{\prime })dx$ by parts and using $\eta =0$ at the endpoints.

For the claimed first integral, differentiate directly:Along an extremal the bracket vanishes. Thus when $f_x=0$, the Beltrami identity isFor a further regular constraint $G[z]=G_0$, introduce a constant Lagrange multiplier $\lambda$ and make $F-\lambda G$ stationary. Apply the Euler-Lagrange equation to the combined integrand, then impose the endpoints and $G=G_0$ to determine the integration constants and multiplier.