  A consistent, local coordinate formulation of covariant Hamiltonian field
theory is presented. Whereas the covariant canonical field equations are
equivalent to the Euler-Lagrange field equations, the covariant canonical
transformation theory offers more general means for defining mappings that
preserve the form of the field equations than the usual Lagrangian description.
It is proved that Poisson brackets, Lagrange brackets, and canonical 2-forms
exist that are invariant under canonical transformations of the fields. The
technique to derive transformation rules for the fields from generating
functions is demonstrated by means of various examples. In particular, it is
shown that the infinitesimal canonical transformation furnishes the most
general form of Noether's theorem. We furthermore specify the generating
function of an infinitesimal space-time step that conforms to the field
equations.
