Leitmann's direct method of optimization for absolute extrema of certain problems of the calculus of variations on time scales

Abstract

The fundamental problem of the calculus of variations on time scales concerns the minimization of a delta-integral over all trajectories satisfying given boundary conditions. This includes the discrete-time, the quantum, and the continuous/classical calculus of variations as particular cases. In this note we follow Leitmann's direct method to give explicit solutions for some concrete optimal control problems on an arbitrary time scale.Comment: Accepted for publication (9/January/2010) in Applied Mathematics and Computatio