Abstract
In the original definition due to A. Weinstein and T. Courant a Dirac structure is a subbundle of the big tangent bundle T M ⊕ T* M that is equal to its ortho-complement with respect to the so-called neutral metric on the big tangent bundle. In this paper, instead of the big tangent bundle we consider the vector bundle E ⊕ E*, where E is a Banach Lie algebroid and E* its dual. Recall that E* is not in general a Lie algebroid. We define a bilinear and symmetric form on the vector bundle E ⊕ E* and say that a subbundle of it is a Dirac structure if it is equal with its orthocomplement. Our main result is that any Dirac structure that is closed with respect to a type of Courant bracket, endowed with a natural anchor is a Lie algebroid. In the proof the differential calculus on a Lie algebroid is essentially involved. We work in the category of Banach vector bundles.