Graded contact manifolds and contact Courant algebroids

Abstract: We develop a systematic approach to contact and Jacobi structures on graded supermanifolds. In this framework, contact structures are interpreted as symplectic principal GL(1,R)-bundles. Gradings compatible with the GL(1,R)-action lead to the concept of a graded contact manifold, in particular a linear (more generally, n-linear) contact structure. Linear contact structures are proven to be exactly the canonical contact structures on first jets of line bundles. They provide linear Kirillov (or Jacobi) brackets and give rise to the concept of a Kirillov algebroid, an analog of a Lie algebroid, for which the corresponding cohomology operator is represented not by a vector field (de Rham derivative) but a first-order differential operator. It is shown that one can view Kirillov or Jacobi brackets as homological Hamiltonians on linear contact manifolds. Contact manifolds of degree 2 are studied, as well as contact analogs of Courant algebroids. We define lifting procedures that provide us with constructions of canonical examples of the structures in question.