| Contents |
| We will consider a formalism that generalizes the variational calculus and allows us to deal with different mechanical systems within the same framework. In particular, we will describe how the cases of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, subjected to constraints or not, fit in this setting. The proposed formalism is based on the notions of the tangent lift of curves and the complete lift of a vector field. Hence it can be extended to the Lie algebroids theory, and thus it includes also the case of reduced mechanical systems. |
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