Publication details
On the inverse variational problem in nonholonomic mechanics
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Communications in Mathematics |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Theoretical physics |
| Keywords | The inverse problem of the calculus of variations; Helmholtz conditions; nonholonomic variational principle |
| Description | The inverse problem of the calculus of variations in a nonholonomic setting is studied. The concept of constraint variationality is introduced on the basis of a recently discovered nonholonomic variational principle. Variational properties of rst order mechanical systems with general nonholonomic constraints are studied. It is shown that constraint variationality is equivalent with the existence of a closed representative in the class of 2-forms determining the nonholonomic system. Together with the recently found constraint Helmholtz conditions this result completes basic geometric properties of constraint variational systems. A few examples of constraint variational systems are discussed. |
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