Discrete Lagrange Problems with Constraints Valued in a Lie Group

Abstract

The Lagrange problem is established in the discrete field theory subject to constraints with values in a Lie group. For the admissible sections that satisfy a certain regularity condition, we prove that the critical sections of such problems are the solutions of a canonically unconstrained variational problem associated with the Lagrange problem (discrete Lagrange multiplier rule). This variational problem has a discrete Cartan 1-form, from which a Noether theory of symmetries and a multisymplectic form formula are established. The whole theory is applied to the Euler-Poincar\'e reduction in the discrete field theory, concluding as an illustration with the remarkable example of the harmonic maps of the discrete plane in the Lie group $SO(n)$.