arXiv1997
In his study of Dirac structures, a notion which includes both Poisson structures and closed 2-forms, T. Courant introduced a bracket on the direct sum of vector fields and 1-forms. This bracket does not satisfy the Jacobi identity except on certain subspaces. In this paper we systematize the properties of this bracket in the definition of a Courant algebroid. This structure on a vector bundle $E\rightarrow M$, consists of an antisymmetric bracket on the sections of $E$ whose ``Jacobi anomaly'' has an explicit expression in terms of a bundle map $E\rightarrow TM$ and a field of symmetric bilinear forms on $E$. When $M$ is a point, the definition reduces to that of a Lie algebra carrying an invariant nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form. For any Lie bialgebroid $(A,A^{*})$ over $M$ (a notion defined by Mackenzie and Xu), there is a natural Courant algebroid structure on $A\oplus A^{*}$ which is the Drinfel'd double of a Lie bialgebra when $M$ is a point. Conversely, if $A$ and $A^*$ are complementary isotropic subbundles of a Courant algebroid $E$, closed under the bracket (such a bundle, with dimension half that of $E$, is called a Dirac structure), there is a natural Lie bialgebroid structure on $(A,A^{*})$ whose double is isomorphic to $E$. The theory of Manin triples is thereby extended from Lie algebras to Lie algebroids. Our work gives a new approach to bihamiltonian structures and a new way of combining two Poisson structures to obtain a third one. We also take some tentative steps toward generalizing Drinfel'd's theory of Poisson homogeneous spaces from groups to groupoids.