Topological and dynamical aspects of jacobi sigma models

The geometric properties of sigma models with target space a Jacobi manifold are investigated. In their basic formulation, these are topological field theories—recently introduced by the authors—which share and generalise relevant features of Poisson sigma models, such as gauge invariance under diffeomorphisms and finite dimension of the reduced phase space. After reviewing the main novelties and peculiarities of these models, we perform a detailed analysis of constraints and ensuing gauge symmetries in the Hamiltonian approach. Contact manifolds as well as locally conformal symplectic manifolds are discussed, as main instances of Jacobi manifolds.