Generalized geometry

Generalized geometry is a recently discovered branch of differential geometry that has received a reasonable amount of interest due to the emergence of several connections with areas of Mathematical Physics. The theory is also of interest because the different geometrical structures are often generalizations of more familiar geometries. We provide an introduction to the theory which explores a number of these generalized geometries. After introducing the basic underlying structures of generalized geometry we look at integrability which offers some geometrical insight into the theory and this leads to Dirac structures. Following this we look at generalized metrics which provide a generalization of Riemannian metrics. We then look at generalized complex geometry which is a generalization of both complex and symplectic geometry and is able to unify a number of features of these two structures. Beyond generalized complex geometry we also look at generalized Calabi-Yau and generalized Kähler structures which are also generalizations of the more familiar structures.Thesis (M.Sc.(M&CS))--University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, Discipline of Pure Mathematics, 2007