Timeline for Calculus of variations -- how does it make sense to vary the position and the velocity independently?

6 events

when toggle format	what		by	license	comment
Nov 3, 2014 at 15:27	history	edited	Kostya	CC BY-SA 3.0	added book info
Apr 3, 2014 at 10:38	comment	added	Robin Ekman		I think to really appreciate Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics you do need to understand some differential geometry. Arnold says in his book Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics that "Hamiltonian mechanics cannot be understood without differential forms." This book, by the way, will teach you the differential geometry you need to get started, assuming just some calculus.
Jan 15, 2011 at 9:40	comment	added	Kostya		First of all, as I said, you are mixing up two different points: about variational calculs and about independence of speeds and coordinates. Second -- I didn't say that you have to read only one book to understand DG.
Jan 15, 2011 at 4:49	comment	added	grizzly adam		I have this book and tried to read it. But it lacks clear definitions, and I found it to be more frustrating than enlightening. Additionally, I don't believe that it is necessary to know differential geometry to understand calculus of variations. That's like saying that you can't understand arithmetic unless you know set theory.
Jan 14, 2011 at 17:28	history	edited	David Z	CC BY-SA 2.5	add a line break
Jan 14, 2011 at 17:03	history	answered	Kostya	CC BY-SA 2.5