Kodaira-Spencer theory for Courant algebroids

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Authors: Julian Kupka, Ingmar Saberi, Charles Strickland‐Constable, Fridrich Valach
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Studying Courant algebroids on dg ringed manifolds, we observe that the associated Roytenberg-Weinstein $L_\infty$ algebra admits a local structure reminiscent of a shifted contact structure. On a dg ringed manifold with an $n$-orientation, its symplectification produces a sheaf of $(2-n)$-shifted symplectic formal moduli problems, which we call the Courant contact model. This construction can be interpreted as a ($\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$-graded) theory in the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism whenever $n$ is odd. After developing the procedure of reduction and extension of scalars, we show how twisted backgrounds in type I supergravity naturally lead to Courant algebroids over the Dolbeault complex. Specialising to the case of a Calabi-Yau fivefold, we show that the Courant contact model for that Courant algebroid is equivalent to a central extension of minimal type I BCOV theory. Inspired by this, we extend the conjecture of Costello and Li and place it within the setting of generalized geometry, conjecturing a description of the BV formulation of type I supergravity in general twisted backgrounds.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology Black Holes and Theoretical Physics Algebraic Geometry and Number Theory

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
4 February 2026
Document type
Preprint