Paper 2, Section II, A

Variational Principles
Part IB, 2013

Starting from the Euler-Lagrange equation, show that a condition for

f(y,y)dx\int f\left(y, y^{\prime}\right) d x

to be stationary is

fyfy= constant f-y^{\prime} \frac{\partial f}{\partial y^{\prime}}=\text { constant }

In the half-plane y>0y>0, light has speed c(y)=y+c0c(y)=y+c_{0} where c0>0c_{0}>0. Find the equation for a light ray between (a,0)(-a, 0) and (a,0)(a, 0). Sketch the solution.