L∞-actions of Lie algebroids

We consider homotopy actions of a Lie algebroid on a graded manifold, defined as suitable [Formula: see text]-algebra morphisms. On the “semi-direct product” we construct a homological vector field that projects to the Lie algebroid. Our main theorem states that this construction is a bijection. Since several classical geometric structures can be described by homological vector fields as above, we can display many explicit examples, involving Lie algebroids (including extensions, representations up to homotopy and their cocycles) as well as transitive Courant algebroids.

Algebroids, AKSZ Constructions and Doubled Geometry

We give a self-contained survey of some approaches aimed at a global description of the geometry underlying double field theory. After reviewing the geometry of Courant algebroids and their incarnations in the AKSZ construction, we develop the theory of metric algebroids including their graded geometry. We use metric algebroids to give a global description of doubled geometry, incorporating the section constraint, as well as an AKSZ-type construction of topological doubled sigma-models. When these notions are combined with ingredients of para-Hermitian geometry, we demonstrate how they reproduce kinematical features of double field theory from a global perspective, including solutions of the section constraint for Riemannian foliated doubled manifolds, as well as a natural notion of generalized T-duality for polarized doubled manifolds. We describe the L ∞-algebras of symmetries of a doubled geometry, and briefly discuss other proposals for global doubled geometry in the literature.

Gauged sigma-models with nonclosed 3-form and twisted Jacobi structures

We study aspects of two-dimensional nonlinear sigma models with Wess-Zumino term corresponding to a nonclosed 3-form, which may arise upon dimensional reduction in the target space. Our goal in this paper is twofold. In a first part, we investigate the conditions for consistent gauging of sigma models in the presence of a nonclosed 3-form. In the Abelian case, we find that the target of the gauged theory has the structure of a contact Courant algebroid, twisted by a 3-form and two 2-forms. Gauge invariance constrains the theory to (small) Dirac structures of the contact Courant algebroid. In the non-Abelian case, we draw a similar parallel between the gauged sigma model and certain transitive Courant algebroids and their corresponding Dirac structures. In the second part of the paper, we study two-dimensional sigma models related to Jacobi structures. The latter generalise Poisson and contact geometry in the presence of an additional vector field. We demonstrate that one can construct a sigma model whose gauge symmetry is controlled by a Jacobi structure, and moreover we twist the model by a 3-form. This construction is then the analogue of WZW-Poisson structures for Jacobi manifolds.

On LA-Courant Algebroids and Poisson Lie 2-Algebroids

This paper reformulates Li-Bland’s definition for LA-Courant algebroids, or Poisson Lie 2-algebroids, in terms of split Lie 2-algebroids and self-dual 2-representations. This definition generalises in a precise sense the characterisation of (decomposed) double Lie algebroids via matched pairs of 2-representations. We use the known geometric examples of LA-Courant algebroids in order to provide new examples of Poisson Lie 2-algebroids, and we explain in this general context Roytenberg’s equivalence of Courant algebroids with symplectic Lie 2-algebroids. We study further the core of an LA-Courant algebroid and we prove that it carries an induced degenerate Courant algebroid structure. In the nondegenerate case, this gives a new construction of a Courant algebroid from the corresponding symplectic Lie 2-algebroid. Finally we completely characterise VB-Dirac and LA-Dirac structures via simpler objects, that we compare to Li-Bland’s pseudo-Dirac structures.