The dynamics of discrete mechanical systems with perfect unilateral constraints

The dynamics of discrete mechanical systems with perfect unilateral constraints is formulated in a very general setting. The well-posedness of the resulting evolution problem is studied. It is proved that existence and uniqueness of a maximal solution is ensured provided strong assumptions are made on the regularity of the data: they are supposed to be analytic. Simple examples show that this regularity assumption may not be relaxed. Sufficient conditions to ensure that the maximal solution is defined for all time are supplied. The continuous dependence of the solution on initial conditions is also studied and the numerical computation of the solution is discussed.