Trial function

A trial function is a chosen candidate used to approximate a solution or evaluate a variational principle. For an eigenvalue upper bound from a Rayleigh quotient, it must be nonzero, have finite numerator and denominator, and lie in the appropriate variational domain. In a Dirichlet problem it satisfies the fixed endpoint values. Natural boundary conditions need not always be imposed on a trial in the quadratic-form domain, but a candidate violating an essential boundary condition does not give the stated bound.