The Euler–Lagrange equations characterize stationary trajectories of an action functional. For a
Lagrangian L t q v, they compare the gradient with respect to position to the time derivative of
the gradient with respect to velocity.
A.1. Mathematical setting
Trajectories take values in a complete real inner-product space X. The Lagrangian has type
Time → X → X → ℝ, and the corresponding action is the time integral of
L t (q t) (∂ₜ q t).
A.2. Main definitions and results
eulerLagrangeOp defines the Euler–Lagrange operator
∂L/∂q - ∂ₜ (∂L/∂v) along a trajectory.
eulerLagrangeOp_eq exposes its pointwise formula.
eulerLagrangeOp_zero evaluates the operator for the zero Lagrangian.
euler_lagrange_varGradient proves that the variational gradient of the action equals the
Euler–Lagrange operator for smooth trajectories and Lagrangians.
A.3. Current scope
The result is formulated for smooth data and Hilbert-space-valued trajectories. Applications to
specific mechanical systems are developed in their corresponding modules, where vanishing of the
operator becomes the system's equation of motion.