2-plectic geometry, Courant algebroids, and categorified prequantization

From MaRDI portal
Publication:360428

DOI10.4310/JSG.2013.V11.N1.A4zbMATH Open1273.53065arXiv1009.2975MaRDI QIDQ360428FDOQ360428

Christopher L. Rogers

Publication date: 26 August 2013

Published in: The Journal of Symplectic Geometry (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: A 2-plectic manifold is a manifold equipped with a closed nondegenerate 3-form, just as a symplectic manifold is equipped with a closed nondegenerate 2-form. In 2-plectic geometry we meet higher analogues of many structures familiar from symplectic geometry. For example, any 2-plectic manifold has a Lie 2-algebra consisting of smooth functions and Hamiltonian 1-forms. This is equipped with a Poisson-like bracket which only satisfies the Jacobi identity up to `coherent chain homotopy'. Over any 2-plectic manifold is a vector bundle equipped with extra structure called an exact Courant algebroid. This Courant algebroid is the 2-plectic analogue of a transitive Lie algebroid over a symplectic manifold. Its space of global sections also forms a Lie 2-algebra. We show that this Lie 2-algebra contains an important sub-Lie 2-algebra which is isomorphic to the Lie 2-algebra of Hamiltonian 1-forms. Furthermore, we prove that it is quasi-isomorphic to a central extension of the (trivial) Lie 2-algebra of Hamiltonian vector fields, and therefore is the higher analogue of the well-known Kostant-Souriau central extension in symplectic geometry. We interpret all of these results within the context of a categorified prequantization procedure for 2-plectic manifolds. In doing so, we describe how U(1)-gerbes, equipped with a connection and curving, and Courant algebroids are the 2-plectic analogues of principal U(1) bundles equipped with a connection and their associated Atiyah Lie algebroids.


Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.2975






Cited In (15)






This page was built for publication: 2-plectic geometry, Courant algebroids, and categorified prequantization

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q360428)