Generalised contact geometry as reduced generalised complex geometry (Q1635482)

Let \(M\) be a smooth bundle and let \(TM\) and \(T^*M\) denote the tangent and cotangent bundles. Generalized geometry makes use of the bundle \(TM\oplus T^*M\) together with its Courant algebroid structure in order to deal with and define geometric structures. This theory was initiated by \textit{N. Hitchin} [Q. J. Math. 54, No. 3, 281--308 (2003; Zbl 1076.32019)] and perhaps its most well-known branch is generalized complex geometry, as developed by \textit{M. Gualtieri} [Ann. Math. (2) 174, No. 1, 75--123 (2011; Zbl 1235.32020)]. Generalized complex geometry encompasses, and in certain contexts supersedes, the theories of complex and symplectic geometry. Just as these two, generalized complex geometry works on even-dimensional manifolds. Much thought has been put into finding an odd-dimensional analogue that would include contact geometry, with special attention on non-coorientable contact structures. The paper under review builds on the notion of a so-called contact Courant algebroid, which is a Courant algebroid structure on \(TM\oplus M\times \mathbb{R} \oplus M\times \mathbb{R} \oplus T^*M\) twisted by a \(3\)-form and two \(2\)-forms satisfying certain compatibility conditions (see Section 3); as well as on its symmetries, the \((B,b,a)\)-transformations. This papers thus follows the trend of using the bundle \(TM\oplus M\times\mathbb{R}\oplus M\times\mathbb{R}\oplus T^*M\), as started by \textit{D. Iglesias-Ponte} and \textit{A. Wade} in [J. Geom. Phys. 53, No. 3, 249--258 (2005; Zbl 1075.53081)]. The main aim of the paper is to view a generalized contact structure as a ``(possibly non-trivial) \(S^1\)-reduction of a generalised complex structure''. Despite the simplicity of this statement, the actual work is somewhat involved and the conclusion not so apparent. To start with, a generalized almost contact structure is defined as a quadruple \((L,e_1,e_2,\lambda)\) consisting of a certain type of isotropic subbundle \(L\subset (TM\oplus T^*M)\otimes \mathbb{C}\), two isotropic sections \(e_1,e_2\in \Gamma(TM\oplus T^*M)\) such that \(\langle e_1,e_2\rangle = 1/2\) for the canonical pairing, and any function \(\lambda\in\mathcal{C}^\infty(M)\). There is a local correspondence between these objects and conformal classes of mixed pairs (a pair of mixed-degree differential forms together with ``a choice of two sections'' satisfying several compatibility conditions). A notion of involutivity for mixed pairs, resembling the situation in generalized complex geometry, is introduced in Definition 4.6. The main result of the paper (Theorem 4.8) states that the integrability of the mixed pair implies the involutivity of its annihilator for the bracket of the twisted contact Courant algebroid. Throughout the paper, the notions introduced are related to other previous proposals in the literature, including \textit{K. Sekiya} quadruples as in [Osaka J. Math. 52, No. 1, 43--58 (2015; Zbl 1325.53107)] (which contain Poon-Wade triples as in [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 83, No. 2, 333--352 (2011; Zbl 1226.53078)]), the first definition of mixed pair by \textit{M. Aldi} and \textit{D. Grandini} [J. Geom. Phys. 92, 78--93 (2015; Zbl 1408.53108)], and the omni-Lie algebroid approach initiated by \textit{L. Vitagliano}, as in [J. Symplectic Geom. 16, No. 2, 485--561 (2018; Zbl 1397.53094)]. One would hope that, after all these initial attempts, some of these proposals will ultimately converge to some more established notion. Finally, the last part of the paper proposes a definition of a generalized coKähler structure and shows that T-duality interchanges these structures (Proposition 6.1). Apart from proposing yet a new viewpoint on what generalized contact geometry should be, another strength of this paper, perhaps its main one, is that it is full of examples. Although the mentioning of classical contact structures (not just almost contact) is certainly scarce, there are twenty examples trying to illustrate some of the notions introduced.