A unified view of ostensibly disparate isoperimetric variational problems

    Authors

    M. R. Caputo

    Comments

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    Abstract

    A class of isoperimetric variational calculus problems is solved. It is shown that the said class ties together seemingly dissimilar optimal control problems in economics and physics, to wit, the classical nonrenewable resource extracting model of the firm, the model of the patient worker, and the principle of maximum entropy. In particular, it is shown that a certain family of wealth maximizing nonrenewable resource extracting firms extract at the rate that maximizes the entropy of extraction, and that patient intertemporal utility maximizing individuals do not procrastinate and maximize the entropy of leisure. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Applied Mathematics Letters

    Volume

    22

    Issue/Number

    3

    Publication Date

    1-1-2009

    Document Type

    Article

    First Page

    332

    Last Page

    335

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000262343900008

    ISSN

    0893-9659

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