Abstract
A given set of differential equations is always included in a set derivable from a variational principle. In the case of a set of equations representing a dissipative physical system the complementary set of equations may represent a second physical system which absorbs the energy dissipated by the first. This is illustrated by an example in which the total kinetic energy is never negative only when the initial conditions for the second system are related to those for the first.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: