We extend to the context of Courant algebroids several hierarchies that can be constructed on Poisson-Nijenhuis manifolds. More precisely, we introduce several notions (Poisson-Nijenhuis, deformation-Nijenhuis and Nijenhuis pairs) that extend to Courant algebroids the notion of a Poisson-Nijenhuis manifold, by using the idea that both the Poisson and the Nijenhuis structures, although they seem to be different in nature when considered on manifolds, are just $(1,1)$-tensors on the usual Courant algebroid $TM \oplus T^*M $ satisfying several constraints. For each of the generalizations mentioned, we show that there are natural hierarchies obtained by successive deformation by one of the $(1,1)$-tensor.
We introduce the notion of matched pairs of Courant algebroids and give several examples arising naturally from complex manifolds, holomorphic Courant algebroids, and certain regular Courant algebroids. We consider the matched sum of two Dirac subbundles, one in each of two Courant algebroids forming a matched pair.
This paper provides an alternative, much simpler, definition for Li-Bland's 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 furthe…
We introduce the notion of hypersymplectic structure on a Courant algebroid and we prove the existence of a one-to-one correspondence between hypersymplectic and hyperkähler structures. This correspondence provides a simpler way to define a hyperkähler structure on a Courant algebroid. We show that hypersymplectic structures on Courant algebroids encompass hyperkähler and hyperkähler structures with torsion on Lie algebroids. In the latter, the torsion existing at the Lie algebroid level is incorporated in the Courant structure. Cases of hypersymplectic structures on Courant algebroids which a…
In this note, given a regular Courant algebroid, we compute its group of automorphisms relative to a dissection. We also propose an infinitesimal version and recover examples of the literature.
For any transversal-Courant algebroid $E$ on a foliated manifold $(M,\mathcal{F})$, and for any choice of a decomposition $TM=T\mathcal{F}\oplus Q$, we construct a Courant algebroid structure on $T\mathcal{F}\oplus T^*\mathcal{F}\oplus E$.
Hypercomplex structures on Courant algebroids unify holomorphic symplectic structures and usual hypercomplex structures. In this note, we prove the equivalence of two characterizations of hypercomplex structures on Courant algebroids, one in terms of Nijenhuis concomitants and the other in terms of (almost) torsionfree connections for which each of the three complex structures is parallel.
Just like Atiyah Lie algebroids encode the infinitesimal symmetries of principal bundles, exact Courant algebroids are believed to encode the infinitesimal symmetries of $S^1$-gerbes. At the same time, transitive Courant algebroids may be viewed as the higher analogue of Atiyah Lie algebroids, and the non-commutative analogue of exact Courant algebroids. In this article, we explore what the "principal bundle" behind transitive Courant algebroids are, and they turn out to be principal 2-bundles of string groups. First, we construct the stack of principal 2-bundles of string groups with connecti…
We construct a generalization of Courant algebroids which are classified by the third cohomology group $H^3(A,V)$, where $A$ is a Lie Algebroid, and $V$ is an $A$-module. We see that both Courant algebroids and $\mathcal{E}^1(M)$ structures are examples of them. Finally we introduce generalized CR structures on a manifold, which are a generalization of generalized complex structures, and show that every CR structure and contact structure is an example of a generalized CR structure.
In this paper, we show that associated to any coisotropic Cartan geometry there is a twisted Courant algebroid. This includes in particular parabolic geometries. Using this twisted Courant structure, we give some new results about the Cartan curvature and the Weyl structure of a parabolic geometry. As more direct applications, we have Lie 2-algebra and 3D AKSZ sigma model with background associated to any coisotropic Cartan geometry.
We develop a theory of T-duality for transitive Courant algebroids. We show that T-duality between transitive Courant algebroids E\rightarrow M and \tilde{E}\rightarrow \tilde{M} induces a map between the spaces of sections of the corresponding canonical weighted spinor bundles \mathbb{S}_{E} and \mathbb{S}_{\tilde{E}} intertwining the canonical Dirac generating operators. The map is shown to induce an isomorphism between the spaces of invariant spinors, compatible with an isomorphism between the spaces of invariant sections of the Courant algebroids. The notion of invariance is defined after …
We show that split Courant algebroids, i.e., those defined on a Whitney sum $A \oplus A^*$, are in a one-to-one correspondence with multiplicative curved $L_\infty$-algebras. This one-to-one correspondence extends to Nijenhuis morphisms and behaves well under the operation of twisting by a bivector.
We present a characterization, in terms of torsion-free generalized connections, for the integrability of various generalized structures (generalized almost complex structures, generalized almost hypercomplex structures, generalized almost Hermitian structures and generalized almost hyper-Hermitian structures) defined on Courant algebroids. We develop a new, self-contained, approach for the theory of Dirac generating operators on regular Courant algebroids with scalar product of neutral signature. As an application we provide a criterion for the integrability of generalized almost Hermitian st…
We introduce the concept of Loday algebroids, a generalization of Courant algebroids. We define the naive cohomology and modular class of a Loday algebroid, and we show that the modular class of the double of a Lie bialgebroid vanishes. For Courant algebroids, we describe the relation between the naive and standard cohomologies and we conjecture that they are isomorphic when the Courant algebroid is transitive.
We express any Courant algebroid bracket by means of a metric connection, and construct a Courant algebroid structure on any orthogonal Whitney sum $E\oplus C$ where E is a given Courant algebroid and C is a flat, pseudo- Euclidean vector bundle. Then, we establish the general expression of the bracket of a transitive Courant algebroid, i.e., a Courant algebroid with a surjective anchor, and describe a class of transitive Courant algebroids which are Whitney sums of a Courant subalgebroid with neutral metric and Courant-like bracket and a pseudo-Euclidean vector bundle with a flat, metric conn…
We introduce Courant algebroids, providing definitions, some historical notes, and some elementary properties. Next, we summarize basic properties of graded manifolds. Then, drawing on the work of Roytenberg and others, we introduce the graded or supergraded language demonstrating a cochain complex / cohomology for (general) Courant algebroids. We review spectral sequences and show how this tool is used to compute cohomology of regular Courant algebroids with a split base. Finally we analyze matched pairs of Courant algebroids including the complexified standard Courant algebroid of a complex …
We propose a definition of Jacobi quasi-Nijenhuis algebroid and show that any such Jacobi algebroid has an associated quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid. Therefore, also an associated Courant-Jacobi algebroid is obtained. We introduce the notions of quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid morphism and Courant-Jacobi algebroid morphism providing also some examples of Courant-Jacobi algebroid morphisms.
We establish some fundamental relations between Dirac subbundles $L$ for the generalized Courant algebroid $(A\oplus A^{\ast}, ϕ+W)$ over a differentiable manifold $M$ and the associated Dirac subbubndles $\tilde{L}$ for the corresponding Courant algebroid $\tilde{A} \oplus \tilde{A}^{\ast}$ over $M\times \R$.
Given a manifold M with an action of a quadratic Lie algebra d, such that all stabilizer algebras are co-isotropic in d, we show that the product M\times d becomes a Courant algebroid over M. If the bilinear form on d is split, the choice of transverse Lagrangian subspaces g_1, g_2 of d defines a bivector field on M, which is Poisson if (d,g_1,g_2) is a Manin triple. In this way, we recover the Poisson structures of Lu-Yakimov, and in particular the Evens-Lu Poisson structures on the variety of Lagrangian Grassmannians and on the de Concini-Procesi compactifications. Various Poisson maps betwe…
Courant algebroids are structures which include as examples the doubles of Lie bialgebras and the direct sum of tangent and cotangent bundles with the bracket introduced by T. Courant for the study of Dirac structures. Within the category of Courant algebroids one can construct the doubles of Lie bialgebroids, the infinitesimal objects for Poisson groupoids. We show that Courant algebroids can be considered as strongly homotopy Lie algebras.
We use a generalized Ricci tensor, defined for generalized metrics in Courant algebroids, to show that Poisson-Lie T-duality is compatible with the 1-loop renormalization group.
We show that well known structures on Lie algebroids can be viewed as Nijenhuis tensors or pairs of compatible tensors on Courant algebroids. We study compatibility and construct hierarchies of these structures.
This note aims to demonstrate that every parabolic geometry has a naturally defined per-Courant algebroïd structure. This structure is a Courant algebroïd if and only if the the curvature $κ$ of the Cartan connection vanishes. In all other cases, if the parabolic geometry is regular, there does not exist a natural universal expression for a Courant bracket.
In this paper, we first discuss the relation between VB-Courant algebroids and E-Courant algebroids and construct some examples of E-Courant algebroids. Then we introduce the notion of a generalized complex structure on an E-Courant algebroid, unifying the usual generalized complex structures on even-dimensional manifolds and generalized contact structures on odd-dimensional manifolds. Moreover, we study generalized complex structures on an omni-Lie algebroid in detail. In particular, we show that generalized complex structures on an omni-Lie algebra $\gl(V)\oplus V$ correspond to complex Lie …
These letters, written in 1998-2000, contain various basic results about Courant algebroids (CAs), such as classification of exact and transitive CAs, reduction of CAs, description in terms of symplectic dg manifolds, a canonical generating Dirac operator, and a relation with Poisson-Lie T-duality.
We generalize Hansen--Strobl's definition of $H$-twisted Courant algebroid such that the twist $H$ of the Jacobi identity is a 4-form in the kernel of the anchor map and is closed under a naturally occurring exterior covariant derivative. We give examples and define a cohomology.
In this paper, we introduce the notion of $E$-Courant algebroids, where $E$ is a vector bundle. It is a kind of generalized Courant algebroid and contains Courant algebroids, Courant-Jacobi algebroids and omni-Lie algebroids as its special cases. We explore novel phenomena exhibited by $E$-Courant algebroids and provide many examples. We study the automorphism groups of omni-Lie algebroids and classify the isomorphism classes of exact $E$-Courant algebroids. In addition, we introduce the concepts of $E$-Lie bialgebroids and Manin triples.
We define the transgression functor which associates to a (higher-dimensional) Courant algebroid on a manifold a Lie algebroid on the shifted tangent bundle of the manifold.
The notion of Courant algebroid was introduced by Liu, Weinstein and Xu in 1997. Its definition consists of five axioms and an assumption for a derivation. It is shown that two of the axioms and the assumption for the derivation follow from the rest of the axioms.
We introduce the category of generalized Courant algebroids and show that it admits a free object on any anchored vector bundle. The free Courant algebroid is built from two components: the generalized Courant algebroid associated to a symmetric Leibniz algebroid and the free symmetric Leibniz algebroid on an anchored vector bundle. Our construction is thus based on the new concept of symmetric Leibniz algebroid. We compare this subclass of Leibniz algebroids with the subclass of Loday algebroids that was introduced and studied in a previous paper of Grabowski, Khudaverdyan and Poncin.
In this paper, we develop the theory of Hom-Lie algebroids, Hom-Lie bialgebroids and Hom-Courant algebroids introduced by Cai, Liu and Sheng. Specifically, we introduce the notions of Hom-Poisson, Hom-Nijenhuis and Hom-Poisson-Nijenhuis structures on a Hom-Lie algebroid and the notion of Hom-Dirac structures on a Hom-Courant algebroid. We show that these structures satisfy similar properties to structures non "Hom-"version. For example, there exists the hierarchy of a Hom-Poisson-Nijenhuis structure and we have a relation between Hom-Dirac structures and Maurer-Cartan type equation. Moreover w…
Pre-Courant algebroids are `Courant algebroids' without the Jacobi identity for the Courant-Dorfman bracket. In this paper we examine the corresponding supermanifold description of pre-Courant algebroids and some direct consequences thereof - such as the definition of (sub-)Dirac structures and the notion of the naive quasi-cochain complex. In particular we define symplectic almost Lie 2-algebroids and show how they correspond to pre-Courant algebroids. Moreover, the framework of supermanifolds allows us to economically define and work with pre-Courant algebroids equipped with a compatible non…
For any regular Courant algebroid, we construct a characteristic class a la Chern-Weil. This intrinsic invariant of the Courant algebroid is a degree-3 class in its naive cohomology. When the Courant algebroid is exact, it reduces to the Severa class (in H^3_{DR}(M)). On the other hand, when the Courant algebroid is a quadratic Lie algebra g, it coincides with the class of the Cartan 3-form (in H^3(g)). We also give a complete classification of regular Courant algebroids and discuss its relation to the characteristic class.
In this thesis we develop the notion of LA-Courant algebroids, the infinitesimal analogue of multiplicative Courant algebroids. Specific applications include the integration of q- Poisson (d, g)-structures, and the reduction of Courant algebroids. We also introduce the notion of pseudo-Dirac structures, (possibly non-Lagrangian) subbundles W \subseteq E of a Courant algebroid such that the Courant bracket endows W naturally with the structure of a Lie algebroid. Specific examples of pseudo-Dirac structures arise in the theory of q-Poisson (d, g)-structures.
In this dissertation we study Courant algebroids, objects that first appeared in the work of T. Courant on Dirac structures; they were later studied by Liu, Weinstein and Xu who used Courant algebroids to generalize the notion of the Drinfeld double to Lie bialgebroids. As a first step towards understanding the complicated properties of Courant algebroids, we interpret them by associating to each Courant algebroid a strongly homotopy Lie algebra in a natural way. Next, we propose an alternative construction of the double of a Lie bialgebroid as a homological hamiltonian vector field on an even…
We use the procedure of reduction of Courant algebroids to reduce strong KT, hyper KT and generalized Kaehler structures on Courant algebroids. This allows us to recover results from the literature as well as explain from a different angle some of the features observed there in. As an example, we prove that the moduli space of instantons of a bundle over a SKT/HKT/generalized Kähler manifold is endowed with the same type of structure as the original manifold.
The binary bracket of a Courant algebroid structure on $(E,\langle \cdot,\cdot \rangle)$ can be extended to a $n$-ary bracket on $Γ(E)$, yielding a multi-Courant algebroid. These $n$-ary brackets form a Poisson algebra and were defined, in an algebraic setting, by Keller and Waldmann. We construct a higher geometric version of Keller-Waldmann Poisson algebra and define higher multi-Courant algebroids. As Courant algebroid structures can be seen as degree $3$ functions on a graded symplectic manifold of degree $2$, higher multi-Courant structures can be seen as functions of degree $n\geq 3$ on …
We study the (standard) cohomology $H^\bullet_{st}(E)$ of a Courant algebroid $E$. We prove that if $E$ is transitive, the standard cohomology coincides with the naive cohomology $H_{naive}^\bullet(E)$ as conjectured by Stienon and Xu. For a general Courant algebroid we define a spectral sequence converging to its standard cohomology. If $E$ is with split base, we prove that there exists a natural transgression homomorphism $T_3$ (with image in $H^3_{naive}(E)$) which, together with the naive cohomology, gives all $H^\bullet_{st}(E)$. For generalized exact Courant algebroids, we give an explic…
Li-Bland's correspondence between linear Courant algebroids and Lie $2$-algebroids is explained and shown to be an equivalence of categories. Decomposed VB-Courant algebroids are shown to be equivalent to split Lie 2-algebroids in the same manner as decomposed VB-algebroids are equivalent to 2-term representations up to homotopy (Gracia-Saz and Mehta). Several classes of examples are discussed, yielding new examples of split Lie 2-algebroids. We prove that the bicrossproduct of a matched pair of $2$-representations is a split Lie $2$-algebroid and we explain this result geometrically, as a con…
We construct an infinite-dimensional symplectic 2-groupoid as the integration of an exact Courant algebroid. We show that every integrable Dirac structure integrates to a "Lagrangian" sub-2-groupoid of this symplectic 2-groupoid. As a corollary, we recover a result of Bursztyn-Crainic-Weinstein-Zhu that every integrable Dirac structure integrates to a presymplectic groupoid.
In this paper, we show that the Jacobiator $J$ of a pre-Courant algebroid is closed naturally. The corresponding equivalence class $[J^\flat]$ is defined as the Pontryagin class, which is the obstruction of a pre-Courant algebroid to be deformed into a Courant algebroid. We construct a Leibniz 2-algebra and a Lie 2-algebra associated to a pre-Courant algebroid and prove that these algebraic structures are isomorphic under deformations. Finally, we introduce the twisted action of a Lie algebra on a manifold to give more examples of pre-Courant algebroids, which include the Cartan geometry.
We define Dorfman connections, which are to Courant algebroids what connections are to Lie algebroids. Several examples illustrate this analogy. A linear connection $\nabla\colon \mathfrak{X}(M)\timesΓ(E)\toΓ(E)$ on a vector bundle $E$ over a smooth manifold $M$ is tantamount to a linear splitting $TE\simeq T^{q_E}E\oplus H_\nabla$, where $T^{q_E}E$ is the set of vectors tangent to the fibres of $E$. Furthermore, the curvature of the connection measures the failure of the horizontal space $H_\nabla$ to be integrable. We show that linear horizontal complements to $T^{q_E}E\oplus (T^{q_E}E)^\cir…
If $A$ is a Lie algebroid over a foliated manifold $(M,\mathcal{F})$, a foliation of $A$ is a Lie subalgebroid $B$ with anchor image $T\mathcal{F}$ and such that $A/B$ is locally equivalent with Lie algebroids over the slice manifolds of $\mathcal{F}$. We give several examples and, for foliated Lie algebroids, we discuss the following subjects: the dual Poisson structure and Vaintrob's super-vector field, cohomology and deformations of the foliation, integration to a Lie groupoid. In the last section, we define a corresponding notion of a foliation of a Courant algebroid $A$ as a bracket-close…
The search for a geometric interpretation of the constrained brackets of Dirac led to the definition of the Courant bracket. The search for the right notion of a "double" for Lie bialgebroids led to the definition of Courant algebroids. We recount the emergence of these concepts.
In this paper, we extend the T-duality isomorphism by Gualtieri and Cavalcanti, from invariant exact Courant algebroids, to exotic exact Courant algebroids such that the momentum and winding numbers are exchanged, filling in a gap in the literature.
We study Nijenhuis structures on Courant algebroids in terms of the canonical Poisson bracket on their symplectic realizations. We prove that the Nijenhuis torsion of a skew-symmetric endomorphism N of a Courant algebroid is skew-symmetric if the square of N is proportional to the identity, and only in this case when the Courant algebroid is irreducible. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for a skew-symmetric endomorphism to give rise to a deformed Courant structure. In the case of the double of a Lie bialgebroid (A,A*), given an endomorphism n of A that defines a skew-symmetric en…
We discuss Levi-Civita connections on Courant algebroids. We define an appropriate generalization of the curvature tensor and compute the corresponding scalar curvatures in the exact and heterotic case, leading to generalized (bosonic) Einstein-Hilbert type of actions known from supergravity. In particular, we carefully analyze the process of the reduction for the generalized metric, connection, curvature tensor and the scalar curvature.
Inspired by recent works of Zang Liu, Alan Weinstein and Ping Xu, we introduce the notions of CC algebroids and non asymmetric Courant algebroids and study these structures. It is shown that CC algebroids of rank greater than 3 are the same as Courant algebroids up to a constant factor, though the definition of CC algebroids is much simpler than that of Courant algebroids,requiring only 2 axioms instead of 5. The situation is similar to that of Lie algebroids, where in the usual definition used by all of he experts there is a redundant axiom, e.g.[GG,KO1,KO2,MK,PL]. Non asymmetric Courant alge…
We present a theory of reduction for Courant algebroids as well as Dirac structures, generalized complex, and generalized Kähler structures which interpolates between holomorphic reduction of complex manifolds and symplectic reduction. The enhanced symmetry group of a Courant algebroid leads us to define \emph{extended} actions and a generalized notion of moment map. Key examples of generalized Kähler reduced spaces include new explicit bi-Hermitian metrics on $\CC P^2$.
