The difference variational bicomplex and multisymplectic systems

Abstract We construct the difference variational bicomplex, which is the natural setting for systems of difference equations, and use it to examine the geometric and algebraic properties of various systems. Exactness of the bicomplex gives a coordinate-free setting for finite difference variational problems, Euler–Lagrange equations and Noether’s theorem. We also examine the connection between the condition for the existence of a Hamiltonian and the multisymplecticity of systems of partial difference equations. Furthermore, we define difference multimomentum maps of multisymplectic systems, which yield their conservation laws. To conclude, we adapt the variational bicomplex to multisymplectic integrators on a mesh that is logically rectangular. By scaling horizontal forms and difference operators according to the local step sizes, all of the results derived earlier can be applied, whether or not the mesh is uniform.