The Gotay-Nester algorithm in singular optimal control

The Gotay-Nester algorithm is a constructive and intrinsically geometric procedure for resolving constraints in Hamiltonian as well as Lagrangian systems. To deal with these, we have resorted to the work of Bergmann and Dirac. However, their method is local in nature, and is not powerful enough to cope with all encountered situations in control theory-or in classical mechanics. Yet there is a global and more general algorithm available since the late seventies (Gotay, 1979), which has to the authors´ knowledge not been fully exploited in control theory. The paper aims to further propagate the Gotay-Nester algorithm in control theory, by applying it to singular optimal control and clarifying some of its advantages over the classic algorithm of Bergmann and Dirac