Cohomology of Courant algebroids with split base (Q1032720)

A Courant algebroid is a pseudo-Euclidian vector bundle \(E\rightarrow M\) together with an anchor map \(\rho :E\rightarrow TM\) and a bracket \([\cdot ,\cdot ]\) on sections of \(E\) which satisfy some basic identities. In this paper the authors investigate the cohomology \(H_{st}^{\bullet}(E)\) of a Courant algebroid. If \(E\) is transitive (i.e. the anchor map is surjective) then the first result shows that \(H_{st}^{\bullet}(E)\) coincides with the naive cohomology \(H_{\text{naive}}^{\bullet}(E)\). Moreover, for a general Courant algebroid \(E\), the authors define a spectral sequence converging to \(H_{st}^{\bullet}(E)\). In the case of Courant algebroid with split base (i.e. the base is isomorphic to a product \(L\times N\) of manifolds and \(D=im\rho \cong TL\times N)\) they prove that there exists a natural transgression homomorphism \(T_3:\chi (N)\rightarrow H_{\text{naive}}^3(E)\) which, together with \(H_{\text{naive}}^{\bullet}(E)\), gives all \(H_{st}^{\bullet}(E)\). Finally, for generalized Courant algebroids, an explicit formula for \(T_3\), depending only on the Severa characteristic class of \(E\) is given.