In fluid dynamics, Luke's variational principle is a Lagrangian variational description of the motion of surface waves on a fluid with a free surface, under the action of gravity. This principle is named after J.C. Luke, who published it in 1967. This variational principle is for incompressible and inviscid potential flows, and is used to derive approximate wave models like the mild-slope equation, or using the averaged Lagrangian approach for wave propagation in inhomogeneous media.
Luke's Lagrangian formulation can also be recast into a Hamiltonian formulation in terms of the surface elevation and velocity potential at the free surface. This is often used when modelling the spectral density evolution of the free-surface in a sea state, sometimes called wave turbulence.
Both the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations can be extended to include surface tension effects, and by using Clebsch potentials to include vorticity.