Alternative Lagrangians obtained by scalar deformations

Abstract

We study non-conservative like SODEs admitting explicit Lagrangian descriptions. Such systems are equivalent to the system of Lagrange equations of some Lagrangian $L$, including a covariant force field which represents non-conservative forces. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a differentiable function $\Phi:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ such that the initial system is equivalent to the system of Euler-Lagrange equations of the deformed Lagrangian $\Phi(L)$. We give various examples of such deformations.