Null Lagrangians in Cosserat elasticity.

In the framework of nonlinear theory of Cosserat elasticity, also called micropolar elasticity, we provide the complete characterization of null Lagrangians for three dimensional bodies as well as for shells. Using the Gibb's rotation vector for description of the microrotation, this task is possible by an application of a theorem stated by Olver and Sivaloganathan in `{the structure of null Lagrangians}' (Nonlinearity, {1}, 1988, pp. 389-398). A set of necessary and sufficient conditions is also provided for the elasticity tensors to correspond to a null Lagrangian in linearized micropolar theory.