REVISITING THE LAVRENTIEV PHENOMENON IN ONE DIMENSION

Abstract

We clarify and extend insights from Lavrentiev’s seminal paper. We examine the original theorem dealing with the absence of the Lavrentiev phenomenon, a cornerstone issue in the calculus of variations. We point out some inconsistencies in the original proof by providing a counterexample and supply the result with a new, concise, and complete reasoning. In the appendix, we also provide additional details to supplement the original proof.