In present paper we develop the deformation theory of operads and algebras over operads. Free resolutions (constructed via Boardman-Vogt approach) are used in order to describe formal moduli spaces of deformations. We apply the general theory to the proof of Deligne's conjecture. The latter says that the Hochschild complex of an associative algebra carries a canonical structure of a dg-algebra over the chain operad of the little discs operad. In the course of the proof we construct an operad of geometric nature which acts on the Hochschild complex. It seems to be different from the brace operad (the latter was used in the previous approaches to the Deligne's conjecture). It follows from our results that the Grothendieck-Teichmüller group acts (homotopically) on the moduli space of structures of 2-algebras on the Hochschild complex. In the Appendix we develop a theory of piecewise algebraic chains and forms. It is suitable for real semialgebraic manifolds with corners (like Fulton-Macpherson compactifications of the configuration spaces of points).
In this article we give a conceptual definition of Manin products in any category endowed with two coherent monoidal products. This construction can be applied to associative algebras, non-symmetric operads, operads, colored operads, and properads presented by generators and relations. These two products, called black and white, are dual to each other under Koszul duality functor. We study their properties and compute several examples of black and white products for operads. These products allow us to define natural operations on the chain complex defining cohomology theories. With these opera…
Let O be a cyclic topological operad with multiplication. In the framework of the cosimplicial machinery by McClure and Smith, we prove that the totalization of the cosimplicial space associated to O has an action of an operad equivalent to the framed little 2-discs operad.
First we describe a class of homotopy Frobenius algebras via cyclic operads which we call cyclic $A_\infty$ algebras. We then define a suitable new combinatorial operad which acts on the Hochschild cochains of such an algebra in a manner which encodes the homotopy BV structure. Moreover we show that this operad is equivalent to the cellular chains of a certain topological (quasi)-operad of CW complexes whose constituent spaces form a homotopy associative version of the Cacti operad of Voronov. These cellular chains thus constitute a chain model for the framed little disks operad, proving a cyc…
Deligne asked in 1993 whether the Hochschild cochain complex of an associative ring has a natural action by the singular chains of the little 2-cubes operad. In this paper we give an affirmative answer to this question. We also show that the topological Hochschild cohomology spectrum of an associative ring spectrum has an action of an operad equivalent to the little 2-cubes.
Let overline{M}_{g,n} be the moduli space of stable algebraic curves of genus g with n marked points. With the operations which relate the different moduli spaces identifying marked points, the family (overline{M}_{g,n})_{g,n} is a modular operad of projective smooth Deligne-Mumford stacks, overline{M}. In this paper we prove that the modular operad of singular chains C_*(overline{M};Q) is formal; so it is weakly equivalent to the modular operad of its homology H_*(overline{M};Q). As a consequence, the "up to homotopy" algebras of these two operads are the same. To obtain this result we prove …
Using a cell model for the little discs operad in terms of spineless cacti we give a minimal common topological operadic formalism for three a priori disparate algebraic structures: (1) a solution to Deligne's conjecture on the Hochschild complex, (2) the Hopf algebra of Connes and Kreimer, and (3) the string topology of Chas and Sullivan.
In this note, we show that the normalized Hochschild co--chains of an associative algebra with a non--degenerate, symmetric, invariant inner product are an algebra over a chain model of the framed little discs operad which is given by cacti. In particular, in this sense they are a BV algebra up to homotopy and the Hochschild cohomology of such an algebra is a BV algebra whose induced bracket coincides with Gerstenhaber's bracket. To show this, we use a cellular chain model for the framed little disc operad in terms of normalized cacti. This model is given by tensoring our chain model for the l…
Using non-commutative differential forms, we construct a complex called singular Hochschild cochain complex for any associative algebra over a field. The cohomology of this complex is isomorphic to the Tate-Hochschild cohomology in the sense of Buchweitz. By a natural action of the cellular chain operad of the spineless cacti operad, introduced by R. Kaufmann, on the singular Hochschild cochain complex, we provide a proof of the Deligne's conjecture for this complex. More concretely, the complex is an algebra over the (dg) operad of chains of the little $2$-discs operad. By this action, we als…
This paper is dedicated to the memory of Moshe Flato, and will appear in Lett. Math. Phys. 48 (1) It became clear during last 5-6 years that the algebraic world of associative algebras (abelian categories, triangulated categories, etc) has many deep connections with the geometric world of two-dimensional surfaces. One of manifestations of this is Deligne's conjecture (1993) which says that on the cohomological Hochschild complex of any associative algebra naturally acts the operad of singular chains in the little discs operad. Recently D. Tamarkin discovered that the operad of chains of the li…
From the `cofree' cooperad $T'(A[-1])$ on a collection $A$ together with a differential, we construct an $L_\infty$-algebra structure on the total space $\bigoplus_nA(n)$ that descends to coinvariants. We use this construction to define an $L_\infty$-algebra controlling deformations of the operad $P$ under $Q$ from a cofibrant resolution for an operad $Q$, and an operad map $Q\longrightarrow P$. Starting from a diffent cofibrant resolution one obtains a quasi isomorohic $L_\infty$-algebra. This approach unifies Markl's cotangent cohomology of operads and the approaches to deformation of $Q$-al…
We construct an analogue of the Livernet--Loday operad for two compatible brackets. The Livernet--Loday operad can be used to define $\star$-products and deformation quantization for Poisson structures. We make use of our operad in the same way, introducing a definition of (operadic) deformation quantization of compatible Poisson structures.
We define a family of multigraded operads $O_λ$ depending on a scalar parameter, such that forgetting the multigraduation gives back the pre-Lie operad when the parameter $λ$ is equal to one, and the NAP operad governing Non-Associative Permutative algebras when $λ$ is equal to zero.
We will define an operad $\mathcal{B}^0$ on planar rooted trees. $\mathcal{B}^0$ is analgous to the $NAP$-operad in the non-planar tree setting. We will define a family of "current-preserving" operads $\mathcal{B}^λ$ depending on a scalar parameter $λ$, which can be seen as a deformation of the operad $\mathcal{B}^0$. Forgetting the extra "current preserving" notion above give back the Brace operad for $λ=1$ and the $\mathcal{B}^0$ operad for $λ=0$. A natural map from non-planar rooted trees to plane ones gives back the current-preserving interpolation between $NAP$ and pre-Lie investigated in…
We introduce and study several new topological operads that should be regarded as nonsymmetric analogues of the operads of little 2-disks, framed little 2-disks, and Deligne-Mumford compactifications of moduli spaces of genus zero curves with marked points. These operads exhibit all the remarkable algebraic and geometric features that their classical analogues possess; in particular, it is possible to define a noncommutative analogue of the notion of cohomological field theory with similar Givental-type symmetries. This relies on rich geometry of the analogues of the Deligne-Mumford spaces, co…
The goal of this article is to relate recent developments in cyclic homology theory with the theory of operads and homotopical algebra, and hence to provide a general framework to define and study operations in cyclic homology theory.
Let X be a smooth affine algebraic variety over a field K of characteristic 0, and let R be a complete parameter K-algebra (e.g. R = K[[h]]). We consider associative (resp. Poisson) R-deformations of the structure sheaf O_X. The set of R-deformations has a crossed groupoid (i.e. strict 2-groupoid) structure. Our main result is that there is a canonical equivalence of crossed groupoids from the Deligne crossed groupoid of normalized polydifferential operators (resp. polyderivations) of X to the crossed groupoid of associative (resp. Poisson) R-deformations of O_X. The proof relies on a careful …
In this paper, we prove that there is a canonical homotopy $(n+1)$-algebra structure on the shifted operadic deformation complex $Def(e_n\to\mathcal{P})[-n]$ for any operad $\mathcal{P}$ and a map of operads $f\colon e_n\to\mathcal{P}$. This result generalizes the result of [T2], where the case $\mathcal{P}=\mathrm{End}_{Op}(X)$ was considered. Another more computational proof of the same statement was recently sketched in [CW]. Our method combines the one of [T2] with the categorical algebra on the category of symmetric sequences, introduced in [R] and further developed in [KM] and [Fr1]. We …
The purpose of this paper is to explain and to generalize, in a homotopical way, the result of Barannikov-Kontsevich and Manin which states that the underlying homology groups of some Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras carry a Frobenius manifold structure. To this extent, we first make the minimal model for the operad encoding BV-algebras explicit. Then we prove a homotopy transfer theorem for the associated notion of homotopy BV-algebra. The final result provides an extension of the action of the homology of the Deligne-Mumford-Knudsen moduli space of genus 0 curves on the homology of some BV-algebr…
We introduce a new operad, which we call the Swiss-cheese operad. It mixes naturally the little disks and the little intervals operads. The Swiss-cheese operad is related to the configuration spaces of points on the upper half-plane and points on the real line, considered by Kontsevich for the sake of deformation quantization. This relation is similar to the relation between the little disks operad and the configuration spaces of points on the plane. The Swiss-cheese operad may also be regarded as a finite-dimensional model of the moduli space of genus-zero Riemann surfaces appearing in the op…
An affine action of an associative algebra $A$ on a vector space $V$ is an algebra morphism $A \to V \rtimes {\rm End}(V)$, where $V$ is a vector space and $V \rtimes {\rm End}(V)$ is the algebra of affine transformations of $V$. The one dimensional version of the Swiss-Cheese operad, denoted ${\mathrm{\bf{sc}}}_1$, is the operad that governs affine actions of associative algebras. This operad is Koszul and admits a minimal model denoted by $({\mathrm{\bf{sc}}}_1)_\infty$. Algebras over this minimal model are called Homotopy Affine Actions, they consist of an $A_\infty$-morphism $A \to V \rtim…
This paper introduces a chain model for the Deligne-Mumford operad formed by homotopically trivializing the circle in a chain model for the framed little disks. We then show that under degeneration of the Hochschild to cyclic cohomology spectral sequence, a known action of the framed little disks on Hochschild cochains lifts to an action of this new chain model. We thus establish homotopy hyper-commutative algebra structures on both Hochschild and cyclic cochain complexes, and we interpret the gravity brackets on cyclic cohomology as obstructions to degeneration of this spectral sequence. Our …
In our recent paper [Sh1] a version of the "generalized Deligne conjecture" for abelian $n$-fold monoidal categories is proven. For $n=1$ this result says that, given an abelian monoidal $k$-linear category $\mathscr{A}$ with unit $e$, $k$ a field of characteristic 0, the dg vector space $\mathrm{RHom}_{\mathscr{A}}(e,e)$ is the first component of a Leinster 1-monoid in $\mathscr{A}lg(k)$ (provided a rather mild condition on the monoidal and the abelian structures in $\mathscr{A}$, called homotopy compatibility, is fulfilled). In the present paper, we introduce a new concept of a ${\it graded}…
It is shown that the operad maps $E_n\to E_{n+k}$ are formal over the reals for $k\geq 2$ and non-formal for $k=1$. Furthermore we compute the cohomology of the deformation complex of the operad maps $E_{n}\to E_{n+1}$, proving an algebraic version of the Cerf Lemma.
Action of the graded Grothendieck-Teichmueller (GT) group on a resolution of the operad of Gerstenhaber algebras (GA) is defined. It is shown that the induced Lie algebra action is homotopically non-trivial (i.e. the induced map from the Lie algebra of the graded GT group to the deformation complex of the operad of GA is injective).
The Deligne-Getzler-Hinich--$\infty$-groupoid or Maurer-Cartan simplicial set of an $L_\infty$-algebra plays an important role in deformation theory and many other areas of mathematics. Unfortunately, this construction only works over a field of characteristic $0$. The goal of this paper is to show that the notions of Maurer-Cartan equation and Maurer-Cartan simplicial set can be defined for a much larger number of operads than just the $L_\infty$-operad. More precisely, we show that the Koszul dual of every unital Hopf cooperad (a cooperad in the category of unital associative algebras) with …
This thesis is divided into two parts. The first one is composed of recollections on operad theory, model categories, simplicial homotopy theory, rational homotopy theory, Maurer-Cartan spaces, and deformation theory. The second part deals with the theory of convolution algebras and some of their applications, as explained below. Suppose we are given a type of algebras, a type of coalgebras, and a relationship between those types of algebraic structures (encoded by an operad, a cooperad, and a twisting morphism respectively). Then, it is possible to endow the space of linear maps from a coalge…
Let an n-algebra mean an algebra over the chain complex of the little n-cubes operad. We give a proof of Kontsevich's conjecture, which states that for a suitable notion of Hochschild cohomology in the category of n-algebras, the Hochschild cohomology complex of an n-algebra is an (n+1)-algebra. This generalizes a conjecture by Deligne for n=1, now proven by several authors.
A theorem of Kontsevich relates the homology of certain infinite dimensional Lie algebras to graph homology. We formulate this theorem using the language of reversible operads and mated species. All ideas are explained using a pictorial calculus of cuttings and matings. The Lie algebras are constructed as Hamiltonian functions on a symplectic operad manifold. And graph complexes are defined for any mated species. The general formulation gives us many examples including a graph homology for groups. We also speculate on the role of deformation theory for operads in this setting.
This paper provides an explicit cofibrant resolution of the operad encoding Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras. Thus it defines the notion of homotopy Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras with the required homotopy properties. To define this resolution we extend the theory of Koszul duality to operads and properads that are defind by quadratic and linear relations. The operad encoding Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras is shown to be Koszul in this sense. This allows us to prove a Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt Theorem for such an operad and to give an explicit small quasi-free resolution for it. This particular resolution …
In order to solve two problems in deformation theory, we establish natural structures of homotopy Lie algebras and of homotopy associative algebras on tensor products of algebras of different types and on mapping spaces between coalgebras and algebras. When considering tensor products, such algebraic structures extend the Lie algebra or associative algebra structures that can be obtained by means of the Manin products of operads. These new homotopy algebra structures are proven by to compatible with the concepts of homotopy theory: $\infty$-morphisms and the Homotopy Transfer Theorem. We give …
To any non-negatively graded dg Lie algebra $g$ over a field $k$ of characteristic zero we assign a functor $Σ_g: art/k \to Kan$ from the category of commutative local artinian $k$-algebras with the residue field $k$ to the category of Kan simplicial sets. There is a natural homotopy equivalence between $Σ_g$ and the Deligne groupoid corresponding to $g$. The main result of the paper claims that the functor $Σ$ commutes up to homotopy with the "total space" functors which assign a dg Lie algebra to a cosimplicial dg Lie algebra and a simplicial set to a cosimplicial simplicial set. This proves…
Given a coalgebra C over a cooperad, and an algebra A over an operad, it is often possible to define a natural homotopy Lie algebra structure on hom(C,A), the space of linear maps between them, called the convolution algebra of C and A. In the present article, we use convolution algebras to define the deformation complex for infinity-morphisms of algebras over operads and coalgebras over cooperads. We also complete the study of the compatibility between convolution algebras and infinity-morphisms of algebras and coalgebras. We prove that the convolution algebra bifunctor can be extended to a b…
We will consider P-graph complexes, where P is a cyclic operad. P-graph complexes are natural generalizations of Kontsevich's graph complexes -- for P = the operad for associative algebras it is the complex of ribbon graphs, for P = the operad for commutative associative algebras, the complex of all graphs. We construct a `universal class' in the cohomology of the graph complex with coefficients in a theory. The Kontsevich-type invariant is then an evaluation, on a concrete cyclic algebra, of this class. We also explain some results of M. Penkava and A. Schwarz on the construction of an invari…
In this paper we develop the $A_\infty$-analog of the Maurer-Cartan simplicial set associated to an $L_\infty$-algebra and show how we can use this to study the deformation theory of $\infty$-morphisms of algebras over non-symmetric operads. More precisely, we define a functor from the category of (curved) $A_\infty$-algebras to simplicial sets which sends an $A_\infty$-algebra to the associated simplicial set of Maurer-Cartan elements. This functor has the property that it gives a Kan complex. We also show that this functor can be used to study deformation problems over a field of characteris…
In this paper we give an alternative construction of a certain class of Deformed Double Current Algebras. These algebras are deformations of $U({\rm End}(\Bbbk^r)[x,y])$ and they were initially defined and studied by N.Guay in his papers. Here we construct them as algebras of endomorphisms in Deligne category. We do this by taking an ultraproduct of spherical subalgebras of the extended Cherednik algebras of finite rank.
We introduce dg Lie algebras controlling the deformations of vertex algebras and vertex Poisson algebras, utilizing the notion of operadic dg Lie algebra and the theory of chiral algebra. In terms of those dg Lie algebras, we formulate the deformation quantization problem of vertex Poisson algebras to vertex algebras.
We give a detailed proof of T. Willwacher's theorem arXiv:1009.1654 which links the cohomology of the full graph complex fGC to the cohomology of the deformation complex of the operad GER, governing Gerstenhaber algebras. We also present various prerequisites required for understanding the material of arXiv:1009.1654. In particular, we review operads, cooperads, and the cobar construction. We give a detailed exposition of the convolution Lie algebra and its properties. We prove a useful lifting property for maps from a dg operad obtained via the cobar construction. We describe in detail Willwa…
A construction of the tangent dg Lie algebra of a sheaf of operad algebras on a site is presented. The requirements on the site are very mild; the requirements on the algebra are more substantial. A few applications including the description of deformatins of a scheme and equivariant deformations are considered. The construction is based upon a model structure on the category of presheaves which should be of an independent interest.
We identify the 2-groupoid of deformations of a gerbe on a smooth manifold with the Deligne 2-groupoid of a corresponding twist of the DGLA of local Hochschild cochains on infinite jets of smooth functions.
The goal of this paper is to complete Getzler-Jones' proof of Deligne's Conjecture, thereby establishing an explicit relationship between the geometry of configurations of points in the plane and the Hochschild complex of an associative algebra. More concretely, it is shown that the $B_\infty$-operad, which is generated by multilinear operations known to act on the Hochschild complex, is a quotient of a certain operad associated to the compactified configuration spaces. Different notions of homotopy Gerstenhaber algebras are discussed: one of them is a $B_\infty$-algebra, another, called a hom…
The goal of the present paper is to introduce a smaller, but equivalent version of the Deligne-Hinich-Getzler $\infty$-groupoid associated to a homotopy Lie algebra. In the case of differential graded Lie algebras, we represent it by a universal cosimplicial object.
In this paper we show that if a cosimplicial space or spectrum $X^\bullet$ has a certain kind of combinatorial structure (we call it a $Ξ^n$-structure) then the total space of $X^\b$ has an action of a certain operad which is weakly equivalent to the little n-cubes operad. The $n\leq 2$ case was proved by a more complicated argument in our earlier paper A Solution of Deligne's Hochschild Cohomology Conjecture (http://front.math.ucdavis.edu/math.QA/9910126). In the special case $n=\infty$, we define a symmetric monoidal structure $\boxtimes$ on cosimplicial spaces and show that if $X^\b$ is a c…
Let $k$ be a field of characteristic zero, $\CO$ be a dg operad over $k$ and let $A$ be an $\CO$-algebra. In this note we define formal deformations of $A$, construct the deformation functor $$\Def_A:\dgar(k)\to\simpl$$ from the category of artinian local dg algebras to the category of simplicial sets. In the case $\CO$ and $A$ are non-positively graded, we prove that $\Def_A$ is governed by the tangent Lie algebra $T_A$ (defined as derivations of a cofibrant resolution of $A$). A very easy example shows that the result does not hold without this condition.
Given an n-manifold M and an n-category C, we define a chain complex (the "blob complex") B_*(M;C). The blob complex can be thought of as a derived category analogue of the Hilbert space of a TQFT, and as a generalization of Hochschild homology to n-categories and n-manifolds. It enjoys a number of nice formal properties, including a higher dimensional generalization of Deligne's conjecture about the action of the little disks operad on Hochschild cochains. Along the way, we give a definition of a weak n-category with strong duality which is particularly well suited for work with TQFTs.
The Kontsevich-Soibelman solution of the cyclic version of Deligne's conjecture and the formality of the operad of little discs on a cylinder provide us with a natural homotopy calculus structure on the pair (C^*(A), C_*(A)) ``Hochschild cochains + Hochschild chains'' of an associative algebra A. We show that for an arbitrary smooth algebraic variety X with the structure sheaf O_X the sheaf (C^*(O_X), C_*(O_X)) of homotopy calculi is formal. This result was announced in paper [29] by the second and the third author.
We recover some recent results by Dotsenko, Shadrin and Vallette on the Deligne groupoid of a pre-Lie algebra, showing that they follow naturally by a pre-Lie variant of the PBW Theorem. As an application, we show that Kapranov's $L_\infty$ algebra structure on the Dolbeault complex of a Kähler manifold is homotopy abelian and independent on the choice of Kähler metric up to an $L_\infty$ isomorphism, by making the trivializing homotopy and the $L_\infty$ isomorphism explicit.
It is well known that (in suitable codimension) the spaces of long knots in $\mathbb{R}^n$ modulo immersions are double loop spaces. Hence the homology carries a natural Gerstenhaber structure, given by the Gerstenhaber structure on the Hochschild homology of the $n$-Poisson operad. In this paper, we compute the latter Gerstenhaber structure in terms of hairy graphs, and show that it is not quite trivial combinatorially. Curiously, the construction makes essential use of methods and results of deformation quantization, and thus provides a bridge between two previously little related subjects i…
