We prove that the algebra $\cal{A}$ of chord diagrams, the dual to the associated graded algebra of Vassiliev knot invariants, is isomorphic to the universal enveloping algebra of a Casimir Lie algebra in a certain tensor category (the PROP for Casimir Lie algebras). This puts on a firm ground a known statement that the algebra $\cal{A}$ ``looks and behaves like a universal enveloping algebra''. An immediate corollary of our result is the conjecture of Bar-Natan, Garoufalidis, Rozansky, and Thurston on the Kirillov-Duflo isomorphism for algebras of chord diagrams.
Our main tool is a general construction of a functor from the category $\mathtt{CycOp}$ of cyclic operads to the category $\mathtt{ModOp}$ of modular operads which is left adjoint to the ``tree part'' functor $\mathtt{ModOp} \to \mathtt{CycOp}$. The algebra of chord diagrams arises when this construction is applied to the operad for Lie algebras. Another example of this construction is Kontsevich's graph complex that corresponds to the operad for homotopy Lie algebras.
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…
The framed little 2-discs operad is homotopy equivalent to the Kimura-Stasheff-Voronov cyclic operad of moduli spaces of genus zero stable curves with tangent rays at the marked points and nodes. We show that this cyclic operad is formal, meaning that its chains and its homology (the Batalin-Vilkovisky operad) are quasi-isomorphic cyclic operads. To prove this we introduce a new complex of graphs in which the differential is a combination of edge deletion and contraction, and we show that this complex resolves BV as a cyclic operad.
We introduce a functorial construction $\mathsf{C}$ which takes unitary magmas $\mathcal{M}$ as input and produces operads. The obtained operads involve configurations of chords labeled by elements of $\mathcal{M}$, called $\mathcal{M}$-decorated cliques and generalizing usual configurations of chords. By considering combinatorial subfamilies of $\mathcal{M}$-decorated cliques defined, for instance, by limiting the maximal number of crossing diagonals or the maximal degree of the vertices, we obtain suboperads and quotients of $\mathsf{C} \mathcal{M}$. This leads to a new hierarchy of operads …
The operad of framed little discs is shown to be equivalent to a cyclic operad. This answers a conjecture of Salvatore in the affirmative, posed at the workshop `Knots and Operads in Roma,' at Universita di Roma ``La Sapienza'' in July of 2006.
We show that Willwacher's cyclic formality theorem can be extended to preserve natural Gravity operations on cyclic multivector fields and cyclic multidifferential operators. We express this in terms of a homotopy Gravity quasi-isomorphism with explicit local formulas. For this, we develop operadic tools related to mixed complexes and cyclic homology and prove that the operad $\mathsf M_\circlearrowleft$ of natural operations on cyclic operators is formal and hence quasi-isomorphic to the Gravity operad.
First we argue that many BV and homotopy BV structures, including both familiar and new examples, arise from a common underlying construction. The input of this construction is a cyclic operad along with a cyclically invariant Maurer-Cartan element in an associated Lie algebra. Using this result we introduce and study the operad of cyclically invariant operations, with instances arising in cyclic cohomology and $S^1$ equivariant homology. We compute the homology of the cyclically invariant operations; the result being the homology operad of $\mathcal{M}_{0,n+1}$, the uncompactified moduli spac…
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.
This article aims at a detailed analysis of the PreLie operad. We obtain a more concrete description of the relationship between the anticyclic structure of PreLie and the generators of PreLie as a Lie-module, which was known before only at the level of characters. Building on this, we obtain an inclusion of the cyclic Lie module in the PreLie operad. We conjecture that the image of this inclusion generates an interesting free sub-operad.
The modular envelope of a cyclic operad is the smallest modular operad containing it. A modular operad is constructed from moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces with boundary; this modular operad is shown to be the modular envelope of the A-infinity cyclic operad. This gives a new proof of the result of Harer-Mumford-Thurston-Penner-Kontsevich that a cell complex built from ribbon graphs is homotopy equivalent to the moduli space of curves.
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…
Let A be a finite dimensional, unital, and associative algebra which is endowed with a non-degenerate and invariant inner product. We give an explicit description of an action of cyclic Sullivan chord diagrams on the normalized Hochschild cochain complex of A. As a corollary, the Hochschild cohomology of A becomes a Frobenius algebra which is endowed with a compatible BV operator. If A is also commutative, then the discussion extends to an action of general Sullivan chord diagrams. Some implications of this are discussed.
The theory of operads (May, cyclic, modular, PROPs, etc) is extended to include higher dimensional phenomena, i.e. operations between operations, mimicking the algebraic structure on varieties of arbitrary dimensions, having marked subvarieties of arbitrary codimension.
This paper is a little more detailed version of math-QA/0010017 "Sur l'homologie des espaces de nœuds non-compacts", where the first term of the Vassiliev spectral sequence (computing the homology of the space of long knots in ${\mathbb R}^d$, $d\ge 3$) was described in terms of the Hochschild homology of the Poisson algebras operad for $d$ odd, and of the Gerstenhaber algebras operad for $d$ even. In particular, the bialgebra of chord diagrams arises as some subspace of this homology. The homology in question is the space of characteristic classes for Hochschild cohomology of Poisson (resp. G…
This is the first of two papers in which we prove that a cell model of the moduli space of curves with marked points and tangent vectors at the marked points acts on the Hochschild co--chains of a Frobenius algebra. We also prove that a there is dg--PROP action of a version of Sullivan Chord diagrams which acts on the normalized Hochschild co-chains of a Frobenius algebra. These actions lift to operadic correlation functions on the co--cycles. In particular, the PROP action gives an action on the homology of a loop space of a compact simply--connected manifold. In this first part, we set up th…
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 …
We construct a new (cyclic) operad of `mosaics' defined by polygons with marked diagonals. Its underlying (aspherical) spaces are the sets of real points of the moduli space of punctured Riemann spheres, which are naturally tiled by Stasheff associahedra. We (combinatorially) describe them as iterated blow-ups and show that their fundamental groups form an operad with similarities to the operad of braid groups.
In the paper we describe complexes whose homologies are naturally isomorphic to the first term of the Vassiliev spectral sequence computing (co)homology of the spaces of long knots in R^d, d>=3. The first term of the Vassiliev spectral sequence is concentrated in some angle of the second quadrant. In homological case the lower line is the bialgebra of chord diagrams (or its superanalog if d is even). We prove that the groups of the upper line are all trivial. In the same bigradings we compute the homology groups of the complex spanned only by strata of immersions in the discriminant (maps havi…
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.
The equivalence between dg duality and Verdier duality has been established for cyclic operads earlier. We propose a generalization of this correspondence from cyclic operads and dg duality to twisted modular operads and Feynman transform. Specifically, for each twisted modular operad $\mathcal{P}$ (taking values in dg-vector spaces over a field $k$ of characteristic 0), there is a certain sheaf $\mathcal{F}$ associated with it on the moduli space of stable metric graphs such that the Verdier dual sheaf $D\mathcal{F}$ is associated with the Feynman transform $F\mathcal{P}$ of $\mathcal{P}$. In…
An arbitrary Leibniz algebra can be embedded in a differential graded Lie algebra via the derived bracket construction. Such an embedding is called a derived bracket representation. We will construct the universal version of the derived bracket representation, prove that the principal part of the target dg Lie algebra defines a subcomplex of Leibniz (co)homology complex and that the existence of the subcomplex is a reflection of the anti-cyclicity of the Leibniz operad.
We determine the number of nonequivalent chord diagrams of order $n$ under the action of two groups, $C_{2n}$, a cyclic group of order $2n$, and $D_{2n}$, a dihedral group of order $4n$. Asymptotic formulas are also established.
In this article, we show under what additional ingredients a comp (or opposite) module over an operad with multiplication can be given the structure of a cyclic k-module and how the underlying simplicial homology gives rise to a Batalin-Vilkovisky module over the cohomology of the operad. In particular, one obtains a generalised Lie derivative and a generalised (cyclic) cap product that obey a Cartan-Rinehart homotopy formula, and hence yield the structure of a noncommutative differential calculus in the sense of Nest, Tamarkin, Tsygan, and others. Examples include the calculi known for the Ho…
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…
In two seminal papers M. Kontsevich introduced graph homology as a tool to compute the homology of three infinite dimensional Lie algebras, associated to the three operads `commutative,' `associative' and `Lie.' We generalize his theorem to all cyclic operads, in the process giving a more careful treatment of the construction than in Kontsevich's original papers. We also give a more explicit treatment of the isomorphisms of graph homologies with the homology of moduli space and Out(F_r) outlined by Kontsevich. In [`Infinitesimal operations on chain complexes of graphs', Mathematische Annalen, …
We show that the Connes-Moscovici cyclic cohomology of a Hopf algebra equipped with a character has a Lie bracket of degree -2. More generally, we show that a "cyclic operad with multiplication" is a cocyclic module whose cohomology is a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra and whose cyclic cohomology is a graded Lie algebra of degree -2. This explain why the Hochschild cohomology algebra of a symmetric algebra is a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra.
We show that the diagonal complex computing the Gerstenhaber-Schack cohomology of a bialgebra (that is, the cohomology theory governing bialgebra deformations) can be given the structure of an operad with multiplication if the bialgebra is a (not necessarily finite dimensional) Hopf algebra with invertible antipode; if the antipode is involutive, the operad is even cyclic. Therefore, the Gerstenhaber-Schack cohomology of any such Hopf algebra carries a Gerstenhaber resp. Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra structure; in particular, one obtains a cup product and a cyclic boundary B that generate the Ger…
The spectral sequence constructed by V.A.Vassiliev computes the homology of the spaces of non-compact knots in ${\bf R}^d$, $d\ge 3$. In this work the first term of this spectral sequence is described in terms of the homology of the Hochschild complex for the Poisson algebras operad, if d is odd (resp. for the Gerstenhaber algebras operads, if d is even). In particular the bialgebra of chord diagrams arises as some subspace of this homology (in this case d=3). Also a simplification for the calculation of the Vassiliev spectral sequence in the first term is provided.
Quiver varieties have recently appeared in various different areas of Mathematics such as representation theory of Kac-Moody algebras and quantum groups, instantons on 4-manifolds, and resolutions Kleinian singularities. In this paper, we show that many important affine quiver varieties, e.g., the Calogero-Moser space, can be imbedded as coadjoint orbits in the dual of an appropriate infinite dimensional Lie algebra. In particular, there is an infinitesimally transitive action of the Lie algebra in question on the quiver variety. Our construction is based on an extension of Kontsevich's formal…
In [KW14], the new concept of Feynman categories was introduced to simplify the discussion of operad--like objects. In this present paper, we demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, by introducing the concept of decorated Feynman categories. The procedure takes a Feynman category $\mathfrak F$ and a functor $\mathcal O$ to a monoidal category to produce a new Feynman category ${\mathfrak F}_{dec {\mathcal O}}$. This in one swat explains the existence of non--sigma operads, non--sigma cyclic operads, and the non--sigma--modular operads of Markl as well as all the usual candidates simply fr…
We establish a new and surprisingly strong link between two previously unrelated theories: the theory of moduli spaces of curves ${\mathcal M}_{g,n}$ (which, according to Penner, is controlled by the ribbon graph complex) and the homotopy theory of $E_d$ operads (controlled by ordinary graph complexes with no ribbon structure, introduced first by Kontsevich). The link between the two goes through a new intermediate {\em stable}\, ribbon graph complex which has roots in the deformation theory of quantum $A_\infty$ algebras and the theory of Kontsevich compactifications of moduli spaces of curve…
The purpose of this article is to embed the string topology bracket developed by Chas-Sullivan and Menichi on negative cyclic cohomology groups as well as the dual bracket found by de Thanhoffer de Voelcsey-Van den Bergh on negative cyclic homology groups into the global picture of a noncommutative differential (or Cartan) calculus up to homotopy on the (co)cyclic bicomplex in general, in case a certain Poincare' duality is given. For negative cyclic cohomology, this in particular leads to a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra structure on the underlying Hochschild cohomology. In the special case in wh…
We study Thomas Willwacher's twisting endofunctor tw in the category of dg properads P under the operad of (strongly homotopy) Lie algebras. It is proven that if P is a properad under properad Lieb of Lie bialgebras , then the associated twisted properad tw(P) becomes in general a properad under quasi-Lie bialgebras (rather than under Lieb). This result implies that the cyclic cohomology of any cyclic homotopy associative algebra has in general an induced structure of a quasi-Lie bialgebra. We show that the cohomology of the twisted properad tw(Lieb) is highly non-trivial -- it contains the co…
We define and study the cohomology theories associated to A-infinity algebras and cyclic A-infinity algebras equipped with an involution, generalising dihedral cohomology to the A-infinity context. Such algebras arise, for example, as unoriented versions of topological conformal field theories. It is well known that Hochschild cohomology and cyclic cohomology govern, in a precise sense, the deformation theory of A-infinity algebras and cyclic A-infinity algebras and we give analogous results for the deformation theory in the presence of an involution. We also briefly discuss generalisations of…
We define a dg-category of looped diagrams which we use to construct operations on the Hochschild complex of commutative Frobenius dg-algebras. We show that we recover the operations known for symmetric Frobenius dg-algebras constructed using Sullivan chord diagrams as well as all formal operations for commutative algebras (including Loday's lambda operations) and prove that there is a chain level version of a suspended Cactus operad inside the complex of looped diagrams. This recovers the suspended BV algebra structure on the Hochschild homology of commutative Frobenius algebras defined by Ab…
We analyze a functor from cyclic operads to chain complexes first considered by Getzler and Kapranov and also Markl. This functor is a generalization of the graph homology considered by Kontsevich, which was defined for the three operads Comm, Assoc, and Lie. More specifically we show that these chain complexes have a rich algebraic structure in the form of families of operations defined by fusion and fission. These operations fit together to form uncountably many Lie-infinity and co-Lie-infinity structures. In particular, the chain complexes have a bracket and cobracket which are compatible i…
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 …
We study general properties of Hodge-type decompositions of cyclic and Hochschild homology of universal enveloping algebras of (DG) Lie algebras. Our construction generalizes the operadic construction of cyclic homology of Lie algebras due to Getzler and Kapranov. We give a topological interpretation of such Lie Hodge decompositions in terms of $S^1$-equivariant homology of the free loop space of a simply connected topological space. We prove that the canonical derived Poisson structure on a universal enveloping algebra arising from a cyclic pairing on the Koszul dual coalgebra preserves the H…
We study a family of Lie algebras {hO} which are defined for cyclic operads O. Using his graph homology theory, Kontsevich identified the homology of two of these Lie algebras (corresponding to the Lie and associative operads) with the cohomology of outer automorphism groups of free groups and mapping class groups of punctured surfaces, respectively. In this paper we introduce a hairy graph homology theory for O. We show that the homology of hO embeds in hairy graph homology via a trace map which generalizes the trace map defined by S. Morita. For the Lie operad we use the trace map to find la…
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.
In two seminal papers Kontsevich used a construction called_graph homology_ as a bridge between certain infinite dimensional Lie algebras and various topological objects, including moduli spaces of curves, the group of outer automorphisms of a free group, and invariants of odd dimensional manifolds. In this paper, we show that Kontsevich's graph complexes, which include graph complexes studied earlier by Culler and Vogtmann and by Penner, have a rich algebraic structure. We define a Lie bracket and cobracket on graph complexes, and in fact show that they are Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras, and th…
We show under what conditions the complex computing general Ext-groups carries the structure of a cyclic operad such that Ext becomes a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra. This is achieved by transferring cyclic cohomology theories for the dual of a (left) Hopf algebroid to the complex in question, which asks for the notion of contramodules introduced along with comodules by Eilenberg-Moore half a century ago. Another crucial ingredient is an explicit formula for the inverse of the Hopf-Galois map on the dual, by which we illustrate recent categorical results and answer a long-standing open question. …
