We analyze the gauge structure of a recently proposed superconformal field
theory in six dimensions. We find that this structure amounts to a weak
Courant-Dorfman algebra, which, in turn, can be interpreted as a strong
homotopy Lie algebra. This suggests that the superconformal field theory is
closely related to higher gauge theory, describing the parallel transport of
extended objects. Indeed we find that, under certain restrictions, the field
content and gauge transformations reduce to those of higher gauge theory. We
also present a number of interesting examples of admissible gauge structures
such as the structure Lie 2-algebra of an abelian gerbe, differential crossed
modules, the 3-algebras of M2-brane models and string Lie 2-algebras.Comment: 31+1 pages, presentation slightly improved, version published in JM
