Interpret the functional of a functional

calculus-of-variationsfunctional-analysis

In the book 'Field Quantization' (Greiner & Reinhardt, 1996), on page 37, talking about the calculus of variations, the authors introduce the notion of the chain rule for functional derivatives. Namely, if $F[\phi]$ and $G[\phi]$ are functionals, then $$\frac{\delta}{\delta \phi(y)} F[G[\phi]] = \int dx \frac{\delta F[G]}{\delta G(x)} \frac{\delta G[\phi]}{\delta \phi(y)}\,.$$ However, I am confused by the notion of functional of a functional. Earlier on page 37, the authors define a functional $F$ as

a mapping from a normed linear space of functions (a Banach space) $M = \{\phi(x): x \in \mathbb{R}\}$ to the field of real or complex numbers, $F: M \to \mathbb{R}\ or\ \mathbb{C}$.

Thus, a functional should take as input a function of a real variable. How should I think about the functional of a functional? In particular, I get stuck when I try to write even simple examples. For instance, let $F[\psi] = \int_0^1 \psi(x) dx$ and $G[\psi] = max_{x\in [0,1]} \psi(x)$; What is $F[G[\phi]]$ in this case?

Best Answer

I see no other interpretation than $G$ being a function-valued functional, e.g. $G:C^\infty(\mathbb R)\to C^\infty(\mathbb R).$ An example of such a functional is $G[\phi](x)=e^{-x^2/2}\phi'(x)^2.$

Then $F[G[\phi]]$ makes sense and $$ \frac{\delta F[G[\phi]]}{\delta\phi(x)} = \int \frac{\delta F[G[\phi]]}{\delta G[\phi](y)} \frac{\delta G[\phi](y)}{\delta\phi(x)} \, dy . $$

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