Download or read book Variational Calculus and Optimal Control written by John L. Troutman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the variational methods used to formulate and solve mathematical and physical problems, allowing the reader an insight into the systematic use of elementary (partial) convexity of differentiable functions in Euclidian space. By helping students directly characterize the solutions for many minimization problems, the text serves as a prelude to the field theory for sufficiency, laying as it does the groundwork for further explorations in mathematics, physics, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as computer science.