Multi-oriented props and homotopy algebras with branes

peer reviewedWe introduce a new category of differential graded {\em multi-oriented}\, props whose representations (called homotopy algebras with branes) in a graded vector space require a choice of a collection of $k$ linear subspaces in that space, $k$ being the number of extra directions (if $k=0$ this structure recovers an ordinary prop); symplectic vector spaces equipped with $k$ Lagrangian subspaces play a distinguished role in this theory. Manin triples is a classical example of an algebraic structure (concretely, a Lie bialgebra structure) given in terms of a vector space and its subspace; in the context of this paper Manin triples are precisely symplectic Lagrangian representations of the {\em 2-oriented} generalization of the classical operad of Lie algebras. In a sense, the theory of multi-oriented props provides us with a far reaching strong homotopy generalization of Manin triples type constructions