Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2003
We consider minimization problems of the form ${\rm min}_{u\in \varphi +W^{1,1}_0(\Omega)}\int_\Omega [f(Du(x))-u(x)]\, {\rm d}x$ where $\Omega\subseteq \mathbb{R}^N$ is a bounded convex open set, and the Borel function $f\colon \mathbb{R}^N \to [0, +\infty]$ is assumed to be neither convex nor coercive. Under suitable assumptions involving the geometry of Ω and the zero level set of f, we prove that the viscosity solution of a related Hamilton–Jacobi equation provides a minimizer for the integral functional.