Variational reduction of Lagrangian systems with general constraints (Q446018)

The authors present an alternative procedure for reducing the equations of motion of first-order constrained Lagrangian mechanical systems with symmetry. The setting includes a configuration manifold \(Q\), a Lagrangian \(L\), a submanifold \(C_K\) of \(TQ\) defining kinetic constraints and a distribution \(C_V\) in \(TQ\) defining the subspace where constraint forces operate. (For standard holonomic systems \(C_K= C_V\).) If the system \((L,C_K,C_V)\) is invariant under the action of a Lie group \(G\) on \(Q\), \(Q\to X= Q/G\) is a fiber bundle, and a principal connection \(A: TQ\to G\) (the Lie algebra of \(G\)) is fixed, then the second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) defined by \(L\) and \(C_V\) are transformed into a set of lower order ODEs whose unknown is a curve inside \(TX\oplus\widetilde G\) (where \(\widetilde G\) is the associated adjoint bundle) and a set of reconstruction equations. To get explicit reduced equations in a concrete system in practice, this approach requires a laborious calculation of several covariant derivatives. The authors propose instead a procedure that uses two connection-like objects instead of only one. One connection is used to identity \(TQ/G\) and \(TX/\widetilde G\), and the other one to decompose the reduced equations into horizontal and vertical terms. This allows one to write an explicit expression for the reduced equations when \(Q\to x\) is a trivial bundle, and also to develop a reduction procedure for higher-order constrained systems.