Time boundary terms and Dirac constraints

Abstract

Time boundary terms usually added to action principles are systematically handled in the framework of Dirac's canonical analysis. The procedure begins with the introduction of the boundary term into the integral Hamiltonian action and then the resulting action is interpreted as a Lagrangian one to which Dirac's method is applied. Once the general theory is developed, the current procedure is implemented and illustrated in various examples which are originally endowed with different types of constraints.