The purpose of this foundational paper is to introduce various notions and constructions in order to develop the homotopy theory for differential graded operads over any ring. The main new idea is to consider the action of the symmetric groups as part of the defining structure of an operad and not as the underlying category. We introduce a new dual category of higher cooperads, a new higher bar-cobar adjunction with the category of operads, and a new higher notion of homotopy operads, for which we establish the relevant homotopy properties. For instance, the higher bar-cobar construction provides us with a cofibrant replacement functor for operads over any ring. All these constructions are produced conceptually by applying the curved Koszul duality for colored operads. This paper is a first step toward a new Koszul duality theory for operads, where the action of the symmetric groups is properly taken into account.
The goal of the present paper is to compare, in a precise way, two notions of operads up to homotopy which appear in the literature. Namely, we construct a functor from the category of strict unital homotopy colored operads to the category of infinity-operads. The former notion, that we make precise, is the operadic generalization of the notion of A-infinity-categories and the latter notion was defined by Moerdijk--Weiss in order to generalize the simplicial notion of infinity-category of Joyal--Lurie. This functor extends in two directions the simplicial nerve of Faonte--Lurie for A-infinity-…
We prove, under mild assumptions, that a Quillen equivalence between symmetric monoidal model categories gives rise to a Quillen equivalence between their model categories of (non-symmetric) operads, and also between model categories of algebras over operads. We also show left properness results on model categories of operads and algebras over operads. As an application, we prove homotopy invariance for (unital) associative operads.
We endow categories of non-symmetric operads with natural model structures. We work with no restriction on our operads and only assume the usual hypotheses for model categories with a symmetric monoidal structure. We also study categories of algebras over these operads in enriched non-symmetric monoidal model categories.
In this work we present an explicit operad morphism that is also a homotopy equivalence between the operad given by the real Fulton MacPherson compactification of configuration spaces and the little $n$-disks operad. In particular, the construction gives an operadic homotopy equivalence between the associahedra and the little intervals explicitly. It can also be extended to the case of Kontsevich compactification and Voronov swiss-cheese operad.
We show how to induce products in sheaf cohomology for a wide variety of coefficients: sheaves of dg commutative and Lie algebras, symmetric Omega-spectra, filtered dg algebras, operads and operad algebras.
We correct a mistake in the construction of push-outs along free morphisms of algebras over a nonsymmetric operad in arXiv:1101.1634 [math.AT], and we fix the affected results in arXiv:1101.1634 [math.AT] and arXiv:1304.6641 [math.AT].
We compare two models for $\infty$-operads: the complete Segal operads of Barwick and the complete dendroidal Segal spaces of Cisinski and Moerdijk. Combining this with comparison results already in the literature, this implies that all known models for $\infty$-operads are equivalent - for instance, it follows that the homotopy theory of Lurie's $\infty$-operads is equivalent to that of dendroidal sets and that of simplicial operads.
This paper constructs model structures on the categories of coalgebras and pointed irreducible coalgebras over an operad. The underlying chain-complex is assumed to be unbounded and the results for bounded coalgebras over an operad are derived from the unbounded case.
This is an expository article about operads in homotopy theory written as a chapter for an upcoming book. It concentrates on what the author views as the basic topics in the homotopy theory of operadic algebras: the definition of operads, the definition of algebras over operads, structural aspects of categories of algebras over operads, model structures on algebra categories, and comparison of algebra categories when changing operad or underlying category. In addition, it includes two applications of the theory: The original application to $n$-fold loop spaces, and an application to algebraic …
We study the homotopy derivations of the framed little discs operads, which correspond to the homotopy derivations of the BV2n operads. By extending a result by Willwacher about the homotopy derivations of the en operads we show that the homotopy derivations of the BV2n operads may be described through the cohomology of a suitable graph complex. We will present an explicit quasi-isomorphic map.
This survey provides an elementary introduction to operads and to their applications in homotopical algebra. The aim is to explain how the notion of an operad was prompted by the necessity to have an algebraic object which encodes higher homotopies. We try to show how universal this theory is by giving many applications in Algebra, Geometry, Topology, and Mathematical Physics. (This text is accessible to any student knowing what tensor products, chain complexes, and categories are.)
In this paper, we set up a rational homotopy theory for operads in simplicial sets whose term of arity one is not necessarily reduced to an operadic unit, extending results obtained by the author in the book "Homotopy of operads and Grothendieck-Teichmüller groups". In short, we prove that the rational homotopy type of such an operad is determined by a cooperad in cochain differential graded algebras (a cochain Hopf dg-cooperad for short) as soon as the Sullivan rational homotopy theory works for the spaces underlying our operad (e.g. when these spaces are connected, nilpotent, and have finite…
It is well known that the differential graded operad of A_infinity-algebras is a cofibrant replacement (a dg-resolution) of the operad of associative differential graded algebras without units. In this article we find a cofibrant replacement of the operad of associative differential graded algebras with units. Algebras over it are called homotopy unital A_infinity-algebras. We prove that the operad bimodule of A_infinity-morphisms is a cofibrant replacement of the operad bimodule of morphisms of dg-algebras without units. Similarly we show that the operad bimodule of homotopy unital A_infinity…
We extend bar-cobar duality, defined for operads of chain complexes by Getzler and Jones, to operads of spectra in the sense of stable homotopy theory. Our main result is the existence of a Quillen equivalence between the category of reduced operads of spectra (with the projective model structure) and a new model for the homotopy theory of cooperads of spectra. The crucial construction is of a weak equivalence of operads between the Boardman-Vogt W-construction for an operad P, and the cobar-bar construction on P. This weak equivalence generalizes a theorem of Berger and Moerdijk that says the…
We establish model category structures on algebras and modules over operads in symmetric spectra, and study when a morphism of operads induces a Quillen equivalence between corresponding categories of algebras (resp. modules) over operads.
This paper deals with the homotopy theory of differential graded operads. We endow the Koszul dual category of curved conilpotent cooperads, where the notion of quasi-isomorphism barely makes sense, with a model category structure Quillen equivalent to that of operads. This allows us to describe the homotopy properties of differential graded operads in a simpler and richer way, using obstruction methods.
We introduce a category of locally constant $n$-operads which can be considered as the category of higher braided operads. For $n=1,2,\infty$ the homotopy category of locally constant $n$-operads is equivalent to the homotopy category of classical nonsymmetric, braided and symmetric operads correspondingly.
Over suitable monoidal model categories, we construct a Dwyer-Kan model category structure on the category of algebras over an augmented operadic collection. As examples we obtain Dwyer-Kan model category structure on the categories of enriched wheeled props, wheeled properads, and wheeled operads, among others. This result extends known model category structure on the categories of operads, properads, and props enriched in simplicial sets and other monoidal model categories. We also show that our Dwyer-Kan model category structure is well behaved with respect to simultaneous changes of the un…
We establish certain smash operations on spaces over operads which are general analogues of the Samelson product on single loop spaces, and obtain a conceptual description of the structure of the homotopy groups of spaces $Y$ over a symmetric $K(π,1)$ operad: $π_*Y$ is a module over the free algebraic symmetric operad generated by operations on homotopy groups induced by these smash operations. In particular the homotopy groups of double loop spaces is a module over the free algebraic symmetric operad generated by the conjugacy classes of Brunnian braids modulo the conjugation action of pure b…
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we review applications of the bar duality of operads to the construction of explicit cofibrant replacements in categories of algebras over an operad. In view toward applications, we check that the constructions of the bar duality work properly for algebras over operads in unbounded differential graded modules over a ring. In a second part, we use the operadic cobar construction to define explicit cyclinder objects in the category of operads. Then we apply this construction to prove that certain homotopy morphisms of algebras over operads are equival…
We explain how any cofibrantly generated weak factorisation system on a category may be equipped with a universally and canonically determined choice of cofibrant replacement. We then apply this to the theory of weak omega-categories, showing that the universal and canonical cofibrant replacement of the operad for strict omega-categories is precisely Leinster's operad for weak omega-categories.
The homotopy theory of infinity-operads is defined by extending Joyal's homotopy theory of infinity-categories to the category of dendroidal sets. We prove that the category of dendroidal sets is endowed with a model category structure whose fibrant objects are the infinity-operads (i.e. dendroidal inner Kan complexes). This extends the theory of infinity-categories in the sense that the Joyal model category structure on simplicial sets whose fibrant objects are the infinity-categories is recovered from the model category structure on dendroidal sets by simply slicing over the point.
We verify that certain algebras appearing in string field theory are algebras over Feynman transform of modular operads which we describe explicitly. Equivalent description in terms of solutions of generalized BV master equations are explained from the operadic point of view.
We prove the existence of Morita model structures on the categories of small simplicial categories, simplicial sets, simplicial operads and dendroidal sets, modelling the Morita homotopy theory of $(\infty,1)$-categories and $\infty$-operads. We give a characterization of the weak equivalences in terms of simplicial presheaves, simplicial algebras and slice categories. In the case of the Morita model structure for simplicial categories and simplicial operads, we also show that each of these model structures can be obtained as an explicit left Bousfield localization of the Bergner model structu…
We study the subcategory of topological operads $P$ such that $P(0) = *$ (the category of unitary operads in our terminology). We use that this category inherits a model structure, like the category of all operads in topological spaces, and that the embedding functor of this subcategory of unitary operads into the category of all operads admits a left Quillen adjoint. We prove that the derived functor of this left Quillen adjoint functor induces a left inverse of the derived functor of our category embedding at the homotopy category level. We deduce from this result that the derived mapping sp…
We introduce an explicit combinatorial characterization of the minimal model ${\cal O}_{\infty}$ of the coloured operad ${\cal O}$ encoding non-symmetric operads. In our description of ${\cal O}_{\infty}$, the spaces of operations are defined in terms of hypergraph polytopes and the composition structure generalizes the one of the $A_{\infty}$-operad. As further generalizations of this construction, we present a combinatorial description of the $W$-construction applied on ${\cal O}$, as well as of the minimal model of the coloured operad ${\cal C}$ encoding non-symmetric cyclic operads.
We define the concept of a bi-operad. We develop the homotopy theory of "Bital-Sets" and of infinite-bi-operads. We develop a geometry of generalized schemes based on the spectra of distributive monochromatic bi-operads.
The transfer of the generating operations of an algebra to a homotopy equivalent chain complex produces higher operations. The first goal of this paper is to describe precisely the higher structure obtained when the unary operations commute with the contracting homotopy. To solve this problem, we develop the Koszul duality theory of operads in the category of modules over a cocommutative Hopf algebra. This gives rise to a simpler category of homotopy algebras and infinity-morphisms, which allows us to get a new description of the homotopy category of algebras over such operads. The main exampl…
We introduce the classical theory of the interplay between group theory and topology into the context of operads and explore some applications to homotopy theory. We first propose a notion of a group operad and then develop a theory of group operads, extending the classical theories of groups, spaces with actions of groups, covering spaces and classifying spaces of groups. In particular, the fundamental groups of a topological operad is naturally a group operad and its higher homotopy groups are naturally operads with actions of its fundamental groups operad, and a topological $K(π,1)$ operad …
We express the rational homotopy type of the mapping spaces $\mathrm{Map}^h(\mathsf D_m,\mathsf D_n^{\mathbb Q})$ of the little discs operads in terms of graph complexes. Using known facts about the graph homology this allows us to compute the rational homotopy groups in low degrees, and construct infinite series of non-trivial homotopy classes in higher degrees. Furthermore we show that for $n-m>2$, the spaces $\mathrm{Map}^h(\mathsf D_m,\mathsf D_n^{\mathbb Q})$ and $\mathrm{Map}^h(\mathsf D_m,\mathsf D_n)$ are simply connected and rationally equivalent. As application we determine the ratio…
The framed little 2-discs operad is homotopy equivalent to a cyclic operad. We show that the derived modular envelope of this cyclic operad (i.e., the modular operad freely generated in a homotopy invariant sense) is homotopy equivalent to the modular operad made from classifying spaces of diffeomorphism groups of 3-dimensional handlebodies with marked discs on their boundaries. A modification of the argument provides a new and elementary proof of K. Costello's theorem that the derived modular envelope of the associative operad is homotopy equivalent to the ``open string'' modular operad made …
We establish a Quillen equivalence relating the homotopy theory of Segal operads and the homotopy theory of simplicial operads, from which we deduce that the homotopy coherent nerve functor is a right Quillen equivalence from the model category of simplicial operads to the model category structure for infinity-operads on the category of dendroidal sets. By slicing over the monoidal unit, this also gives the Quillen equivalence between Segal categories and simplicial categories proved by J. Bergner, as well as the Quillen equivalence between quasi-categories and simplicial categories proved by …
We define a simplicial enrichment on the category of differential graded Hopf cooperads (the category of dg Hopf cooperads for short). We prove that our simplicial enrichment satisfies, in part, the axioms of a simplicial model category structure on the category of dg Hopf cooperads. We use this simplicial model structure to define a model of mapping spaces in the category of dg Hopf cooperads and to upgrade results of the literature about the homotopy automorphism spaces of dg Hopf cooperads by dealing with simplicial monoid structures. The rational homotopy theory of operads implies that the…
We build model structures on the category of equivariant simplicial operads with a fixed set of colors, with weak equivalences determined by families of subgroups. In particular, by specifying to the family of graph subgroups (or, more generally, one of the indexing systems of Blumberg-Hill), we obtain model structures on the category of equivariant simplicial operads with a fixed set of colors, with weak equivalences determined by norm map data.
We present a homotopy theory for a weak version of modular operads whose compositions and contractions are only defined up to homotopy. This homotopy theory takes the form of a Quillen model structure on the collection of simplicial presheaves for a certain category of undirected graphs. This new category of undirected graphs, denoted $\mathbf{U}$, plays a similar role for modular operads that the dendroidal category $Ω$ plays for operads. We carefully study properties of $\mathbf{U}$, including the existence of certain factorization systems. Related structures, such as cyclic operads and stab…
Hurwitz spaces are homotopy quotients of the braid group action on the moduli space of principal bundles over a punctured plane. By considering a certain model for this homotopy quotient we build an aspherical topological operad that we call the little bundles operad. As our main result, we describe this operad as a groupoid-valued operad in terms of generators and relations and prove that the categorical little bundles algebras are precisely Turaev's crossed categories. Moreover, we prove that the evaluation on the circle of a homotopical two-dimensional equivariant topolological field theory…
