Some Remarks on Multisymplectic and Variational Nature of Monge-Ampère Equations in Dimension Four

Abstract

We describe a necessary condition for the local solvability of the strong inverse variational problem in the context of Monge-Ampère partial differential equations and first-order Lagrangians. This condition is based on comparing effective differential forms on the first jet bundle. To illustrate and apply our approach, we study the linear Klein-Gordon equation, first and second heavenly equations of Plebański, Grant equation, and Husain equation, over a real four-dimensional manifold. Two approaches towards multisymplectic formulation of these equations are described.