Spacetime $\mathbb{R}^{1+n}$ modeled as functions $\text{Fin}(n+1) \to \mathbb{R}$. The component indexed by $0$ is time and components $1, \ldots, n$ are spatial.
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A real-valued scalar field on $(1+n)$-dimensional spacetime.
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A Lagrangian (Definition 1.0.1) is a function of the field value $\phi \in \mathbb{R}$, its spacetime gradient $\nabla\phi \in \mathbb{R}^{1+n}$, and the spacetime coordinate $x$. We write $\mathcal{L}(\phi, \nabla\phi, x)$.
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The spacetime gradient $\nabla\phi$ of a scalar field $\phi$ at $x$, given by the components $(\nabla\phi)_\mu = \partial_\mu \phi(x) = (D\phi)_x(e_\mu)$ where $e_\mu$ is the $\mu$-th coordinate vector.
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The action (Definition 1.0.2) of a field $\phi$ over a compact set $\mathfrak{K} \subset \mathbb{R}^{1+n}$: $$\mathcal{A}[\phi; \mathfrak{K}] = \int_{\mathfrak{K}} \mathcal{L}(\phi(x), \nabla\phi(x), x)\, d^{1+n}x.$$
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A variation (Definition 1.0.3) on a set $K$ is a smooth scalar field $\psi$ whose support is contained in $K$; equivalently $\psi \in C_c^\infty(K)$.
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The perturbed field (Definition 1.0.4) $\phi_\varepsilon := \phi + \varepsilon\psi$.
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$\phi$ is a stationary point of the action (Definition 1.0.5) iff for every compact set $\mathfrak{K}$ and every variation $\psi \in C_c^\infty(\mathfrak{K})$, $$\left.\frac{d}{d\varepsilon}\right|_{\varepsilon=0} \mathcal{A}[\phi_\varepsilon; \mathfrak{K}] = 0.$$
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The partial derivative $\partial\mathcal{L}/\partial\phi$ evaluated at $(\phi(x), \nabla\phi(x), x)$.
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The partial derivative $\partial\mathcal{L}/\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)$ evaluated at $(\phi(x), \nabla\phi(x), x)$, holding the other gradient components, $\phi$, and $x$ fixed.
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The Euler-Lagrange operator $$E[\phi](x) = \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial\phi} - \sum_\alpha \nabla_\alpha\left( \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)}\right).$$ The Euler-Lagrange PDE (Theorem 1.1) is $E[\phi] = 0$.
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Fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations: if $f$ is continuous and $\int_K f\psi = 0$ for every compact $K$ and every variation $\psi \in C_c^\infty(K)$, then $f \equiv 0$.
Pointwise chain rule at $\varepsilon = 0$ for the integrand of the action: the derivative in $\varepsilon$ of $\mathcal{L}(\phi_\varepsilon(x), \nabla\phi_\varepsilon(x), x)$ at $\varepsilon=0$ equals $\frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial\phi}\psi + \sum_\alpha \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)} \nabla_\alpha\psi$.
General pointwise chain rule at an arbitrary base point $\varepsilon_0$: gives a closed-form expression for $\frac{d}{d\varepsilon} \mathcal{L}(\phi_\varepsilon(x), \nabla\phi_\varepsilon(x), x)$ at any $\varepsilon = \varepsilon_0$ in terms of the full Fréchet derivative of $\mathcal{L}$. Used to dominate the difference quotient when differentiating under the integral sign.
Differentiation under the integral sign (Leibniz rule) applied to the action: for smooth data, $$\left.\frac{d}{d\varepsilon}\right|_{\varepsilon=0} \mathcal{A}[\phi_\varepsilon; K] = \int_K \left(\frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial\phi}\,\psi + \sum_\alpha \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)}\,\nabla_\alpha\psi\right) d^{1+n}x.$$
Integration by parts in one coordinate direction $\alpha$: since $\psi$ vanishes near $\partial K$, $\int_K f\,\partial_\alpha\psi\, d^{1+n}x = -\int_K (\partial_\alpha f)\,\psi\, d^{1+n}x$.
Integrability of the Euler-Lagrange-type terms over the compact set $K$: the field-derivative term, the gradient-derivative sum, the integrated-by-parts sum, and each summand of those sums are integrable on $K$.
If $\mathcal{L}$ is $C^2$ and $\phi$ is $C^2$, then $x \mapsto \partial\mathcal{L}/\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)$ evaluated at $(\phi(x), \nabla\phi(x), x)$ is $C^1$. This is the regularity required to integrate by parts.
Coordinate-by-coordinate integration by parts applied to each term in the $\sum_\alpha \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)} \nabla_\alpha\psi$ sum, giving $\sum_\alpha (-\nabla_\alpha \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)})\psi$, together with the integrability conditions that justify swapping integral and sum.
Integration by parts reassembled: the full first-variation integrand equals the Euler-Lagrange operator times the variation, $$\int_K \left(\frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial\phi}\,\psi + \sum_\alpha \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)}\,\nabla_\alpha\psi\right) = \int_K E[\phi](x)\,\psi(x)\, d^{1+n}x.$$
First-variation formula: combining the Leibniz chain rule with integration by parts, $$\left.\frac{d}{d\varepsilon}\right|_{\varepsilon=0} \mathcal{A}[\phi_\varepsilon; K] = \int_K E[\phi](x)\,\psi(x)\, d^{1+n}x.$$
Theorem 1.1 (Principle of Stationary Action / Euler-Lagrange equation): for a $C^2$ Lagrangian $\mathcal{L}$ and a $C^2$ field $\phi$, $\phi$ is a stationary point of the action if and only if the Euler-Lagrange PDE $$\nabla_\alpha\left(\frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial(\nabla_\alpha\phi)}\right) = \frac{\partial\mathcal{L}}{\partial\phi}$$ holds pointwise on spacetime.
Proposition 2.0.1 (ODE flow generated by a smooth, bounded-gradient vector field): given a smooth vector field $Y$ on $\mathbb{R}^{1+n}$ whose first partial derivatives are uniformly bounded by $C$, the local flow $F_\varepsilon$ of $Y$ exists on a uniform $\varepsilon$-interval and enjoys identity at $\varepsilon=0$, the flow equation, joint smoothness, a one-parameter group law, local bijectivity with explicit inverse $F_{-\varepsilon}$, a Taylor expansion of $F_\varepsilon x$ to second order in $\varepsilon$, Taylor expansions of $D F_{\pm\varepsilon}$ to second order, and the Jacobian determinant expansion $\det DF_{-\varepsilon}|_{F_\varepsilon x} = 1 - \varepsilon\,\nabla_\alpha Y^\alpha(x) + O(\varepsilon^2)$.