Some geometric aspects of variational calculus in constrained systems (Q1424099)

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Some geometric aspects of variational calculus in constrained systems
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    Some geometric aspects of variational calculus in constrained systems (English)
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    8 March 2004
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    Starting with the remark that ``variational principles are important not only in physics, but also in many branches of engineering or economics''(from Introduction), the authors develop a unified geometrical description to the both usual approaches when dealing with constraints, namely nonholonomic and vakonomic. A main feature of both these frameworks is the existence of admissible infinitesimal variations and it is proved that these variations coincide when the constraints are integrable (or holonomic). As examples, a geometrization of optimal control theory and the case of linear constraints are detailed.
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    variational principle
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    constraint
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    nonholonomic systems
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    vakonomic mechanics
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    optimal control
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