Pointwise minimization of supplemented variational problems
We describe an approach to variational problems, where the solutions appear as pointwise (finite-dimensional) minima for fixed t of the supplemented Lagrangian. The minimization is performed simultaneously with respect to the state variable x and ẋ, as opposed to Pontryagin's maximum principle, where optimization is done only with respect to the ẋ-variable. We use the idea of the equivalent problems of Carathéodory employing suitable (and simple) supplements to the original minimization problem....