Some geometric aspects of the calculus of variations
in several independent variables
In this talk I shall describe some recent research on parametric
problems in the calculus of variations (of which the minimal surfaces problem
is perhaps the most basic example).
I shall also explain the relationship between these problems and the
type of problem more usual in physics, where there is a given space of
independent variables. Aspects to be covered will include an interpretation of
the first variation formula in terms of cohomology.