On the structure of Finsler and areal spaces

We study underlying geometric structures for integral variational functionals, depending on submanifolds of a given manifold. Applications include (first order) variational functionals of Finsler and areal geometries with integrand the Hilbert 1-form, and admit immediate extensions to higher-order functionals.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings for AGMP-8, to be published in the special issue of Miskolc Mathematical Note