The Notion of Observable in the Covariant Hamiltonian Formalism for the Calculus of Variations with Several Variables

This papers is concerned with multisymplectic formalisms which are the frameworks for Hamiltonian theories for fields theory. Our main purpose is to study the observable (n-1)-forms which allows one to construct observable functionals on the set of solutions of the Hamilton equations by integration. We develop here two different points of view: generalizing the law {p,q} = 1 or the law dF/dt ={H,F}. This leads to two possible definitions; we explore the relationships and the differences between these two concepts. We show that - in contrast with the de Donder-Weyl theory - the two definitions coincides in the Lepage-Dedecker theory.

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Published 1 January 2004