Schwinger variational principle

Schwinger variational principle is a variational principle which expresses the scattering T-matrix as a functional depending on two unknown wave functions. The functional attains stationary value equal to actual scattering T-matrix. The functional is stationary if and only if the two functions satisfy the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. The development of the variational formulation of the scattering theory can be traced to works of L. Hultén and J. Schwinger in 1940s.