Gauged AKSZ sigma models

Abstract

We propose a new class of sigma models that extend AKSZ sigma models, which we refer to as gauged AKSZ sigma models. These models are constructed using QP-manifolds. The compatibility between the AKSZ structure and gauging is characterized by geometric conditions on the target graded manifold. As an example, we explicitly analyze the gauging of higher Courant sigma models in higher dimensions. When fluxes and boundaries are introduced into gauged higher Courant sigma models, generalizations of momentum maps and Hamiltonian $G$-spaces arise as consistency conditions for the models.