Pontryagin maximum principle for the deterministic mean field type optimal control problem via the Lagrangian approach

Abstract: We study necessary optimality conditions for the deterministic mean field type free-endpoint optimal control problem. Our study relies on the Lagrangian approach that treats the mean field type control system as a crowd of infinitely many agents who are labeled by elements of some probability space. First, we derive the Pontryagin maximum principle in the Lagrangian form. Furthermore, we consider the Kantorovich and Eulerian formalizations which describe mean field type control systems via distributions on the set of trajectories and nonlocal continuity equation respectively. We prove that local minimizers in the Kantorovich or Eulerian formulations determine local minimizers within the Lagrangian approach. Using this, we deduce the Pontryagin maximum principle in the Kantorovich and Eulerian forms. To illustrate the general theory, we examine a model system of mean field type linear quadratic regulator. We show that the optimal strategy in this case is determined by a linear feedback.