Existence of a Variational Principle for PDEs with Symmetries and Current Conservation

Abstract

We prove that under certain assumptions a partial differential equation can be derived from a variational principle. It is well-known from Noether's theorem that symmetries of a variational functional lead to conservation laws of the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equation. We reverse this statement and prove that a differential equation which satisfies sufficiently many symmetries and corresponding conservation laws leads to a variational functional whose Euler-Lagrange equation is the given differential equation.