Page 10 - INTRODUCTION TO THE CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS

Preface to the English

Edition

The present monograph is a translation of Introduction au calcul des variations
that was published by Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes. In
fact it is more than a translation, it can be considered as a new edition. Indeed,
I have substantially modified many proofs and exercises, with their corrections,
adding also several new ones. In doing so I have benefited from many comments
of students and colleagues who used the French version in their courses on the
calculus of variations.
After several years of experience, I think that the present book can adequately

serve as a concise and broad introduction to the calculus of variations. It can

be used at undergraduate as well as graduate level. Of course at a more
advanced level it has to be complemented by more specialized materials and I
have indicated, in every chapter, appropriate books for further readings. The
numerous exercises, integrally corrected in Chapter 7, will also be important to
help understand the subject better.
I would like to thank all students and colleagues for their comments on the
French version, in particular O. Besson and M. M. Marques who commented in
writing. Ms. M. F. DeCarmine helped me by efficiently typing the manuscript.
Finally my thanks go to C. Hebeisen for the drawing of the figures.

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