$Q$-manifolds and Higher Analogs of Lie Algebroids

Abstract

We show how the relation between $Q$-manifolds and Lie algebroids extends to ``higher'' or ``non-linear'' analogs of Lie algebroids. We study the identities satisfied by a new algebraic structure that arises as a replacement of operations on sections of a Lie algebroid. When the base is a point, we obtain a generalization of Lie superalgebras.