Generalizing parametrization invariance in the calculus of variations

Abstract

We revisit the notion of parametrization invariance while introducing certain weakened notions of invariance in the calculus of variations. In this work, we employ a straightforward approach in the classical setting and mostly restrict attention to functionals on one-dimensional domains. We establish a connection between parametrization invariant functionals and functionals embodying a weaker notion of invariance of their Lagrangian; we term this notion as $\mathcal{T}$ -Lagrangian analogous to the well-known idea of null Lagrangian. However, the Euler–Lagrange operator of a $\mathcal{T}$ -Lagrangian vanishes only along the tangential direction in the configuration space. On one-dimensional domain and for first- and second-order theories, we show that functional described by such a Lagrangian is necessarily a parametrization invariant functional modulo null Lagrangian. Keeping the motivation for partial differential equations, we also introduce and explore the notion of $\mathcal{N}$ -Lagrangian, with an invariance complementary to the case of $\mathcal{T}$ -Lagrangian, whose Euler–Lagrange operator vanishes along normal directions. We find that in a one-dimensional setting, every $\mathcal{N}$ -Lagrangian is simply a null Lagrangian.