Symmetries and first integrals for variational ODEs with delay

Abstract

A Lagrangian formalism for variational second-order delay ordinary differential equations (DODEs) is developed. The Noether operator identity for a DODE is established, which relates the invariance of a Lagrangian function with the appropriate variational equations and the conserved quantities. The identity is used to formulate Noether-type theorems that give the first integrals for DODE with symmetries. Relations between the invariance of the variational second-order DODEs and the invariance of the Lagrangian functions are also analyzed. Several examples illustrate the theoretical results.