This is a slightly edited version of the transparencies for a seminar at UCL, May 7, 2003. It is intended to give a quick view of background, ideas, and some calculations, in the applicatioon of some non commutative methods to algebraic topology.
We adapt the notion of an algebraic theory to work in the setting of quasicategories developed recently by Joyal and Lurie. We develop the general theory at some length. We study one extended example in detail: the theory of commutative monoids (which turns out to be essentially just a 2-category). This gives a straightforward, combinatorially explicit, and instructive notion of a commutative monoid. We prove that this definition is equivalent (in appropriate senses) both to the classical concept of an E-infinity monoid and to Lurie's concept of a commutative algebra object.
Recent developments have found unexpected connections between non-commutative probability theory and algebraic topology. In particular, Boolean cumulants functionals seem to be important for describing morphisms of homotopy operadic algebras. We provide new elementary examples which clearly resemble a connection between algebraic topology and non-commutative probability, based on spectral graph theory. These observations are important for bringing new ideas from non-commutative probability into TDA and stochastic topology, and in the opposite direction.
Equipping a non-equivariant topological E_\infty operad with the trivial G-action gives an operad in G-spaces. The algebra structure encoded by this operad in G-spectra is characterised homotopically by having no non-trivial multiplicative norms. Algebras over this operad are called naive-commutative ring G-spectra. In this paper we let G be a finite group and we show that commutative algebras in the algebraic model for rational G-spectra model the rational naive-commutative ring G-spectra.
We show that the homotopy category of commutative algebra spectra over the Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectrum of the integers is equivalent to the homotopy category of E-infinity-monoids in unbounded chain complexes. We do this by establishing a chain of Quillen equivalences between the corresponding model categories. We also provide a Quillen equivalence to commutative monoids in the category of functors from the category of finite sets and injections to unbounded chain complexes.
We discuss what it means for a symmetric monoidal category to be a module over a commutative semiring category. Each of the categories of (1) cartesian monoidal categories, (2) semiadditive categories, and (3) connective spectra can be recovered in this way as categories of modules over a commutative semiring category (or $\infty$-category in the last case). This language provides a simultaneous generalization of the formalism of algebraic theories (operads, PROPs, Lawvere theories) and stable homotopy theory, with essentially a variant of algebraic K-theory bridging between the two.
We show that the sum over planar trees formula of Kontsevich and Soibelman transfers C-infinity structures along a contraction. Applying this result to a cosimplicial commutative algebra A^* over a field of characteristic zero, we exhibit a canonical unital C-infinity structure on Tot(A^*), which is unital if A^* is; in particular, we obtain a canonical C-infinity structure on the cochain complex of a simplicial set.
Equipping a non-equivariant topological $E_\infty$-operad with the trivial $G$-action gives an operad in $G$-spaces. For a $G$-spectrum, being an algebra over this operad does not provide any multiplicative norm maps on homotopy groups. Algebras over this operad are called naïve-commutative ring $G$-spectra. In this paper we take $G=SO(2)$ and we show that commutative algebras in the algebraic model for rational $SO(2)$-spectra model rational naïve-commutative ring $SO(2)$-spectra. In particular, this applies to show that the $SO(2)$-equivariant cohomology associated to an elliptic curve $C$ f…
We introduce a new algebraic concept of an algebra which is "almost" commutative (more precisely "quasi-commutative differential graded algebra" or ADGQ, in French). We associate to any simplicial set X an ADGQ - called D(X) - and show how we can recover the homotopy type of the topological realization of X from this algebraic structure (assuming some finiteness conditions). The theory is sufficiently general to include also ringed spaces X. The construction is by itself interesting since it uses the difference calculus (instead of the differential calculus of Sullivan's theory) and a new type…
These notes illustrates the power of formulating ideas of commutative algebra in a homotopy invariant form. They can then be applied to derived categories of rings or ring spectra. These ideas are powerful in classical algebra, in representation theory of groups, in classical algebraic topology and elsewhere. The notes grew out of a series of lectures given during the `Interactions between Representation Theory, Algebraic Topology and Commutative Algebra' (IRTATCA) at the CRM (Barcelona) in Spring 2015.
This paper is a review of concepts from graded commutative algebra with specific attention given to length and multiplicity. The author's motivation for this paper comes from the study of equivariant cohomology in algebraic topology where the graded commutative algebra of the module is intimately connected to topological properties of the space (as shown by Quillen). Results (and their proofs) which are often left as exercises, or considered 'folklore' in the commutative algebra community are included in this paper, as are references to relevant applications in topology. As such, this paper is…
We discuss some of the basic ideas of Galois theory for commutative S-algebras originally formulated by John Rognes. We restrict attention to the case of finite Galois groups and to global Galois extensions. We describe parts of the general framework developed by Rognes. Central roles are played by the notion of strong duality and a trace mapping constructed by Greenlees and May in the context of generalized Tate cohomology. We give some examples where algebraic data on coefficient rings ensures strong topological consequences. We consider the issue of passage from algebraic Galois extensions …
We construct a functor from the smooth 4-dimensional manifolds to the hyper-algebraic number fields, i.e. fields with non-commutative multiplication. It is proved that that the simply connected 4-manifolds correspond to the abelian extensions. We recover the Rokhlin and Donaldson's Theorems from the Galois theory of the non-commutative fields.
We survey the topology which led to the original bar and cobar constructions, for both associative algebras and coalgebras and for Lie algebras and commutative coalgebras. These constructions are often viewed as part of the larger theory of Koszul duality of operads, so this survey is meant to offer an historical perspective on the most prominent cases of that theory. We also explain recent work which shows that Hopf/linking invariants for homotopy are at the heart of the duality between commutative algebras and Lie coalgebras.
A chain complex model for the free loop space of a connected, closed and oriented manifold is presented, and on its homology, the Gerstenhaber and Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra structures are defined and identified with the string topology structures. The gravity algebra on the equivariant homology of the free loop space is also modeled. The construction includes non simply-connected case, and therefore gives an algebraic and chain level model of Chas-Sullivan's String Topology.
We construct a cofibrantly generated model structure on the category of differential non-negatively graded quasi-coherent commutative $D_X$-algebras, where $D_X$ is the sheaf of differential operators of a smooth afine algebraic variety X. The paper contains an extensive appendix on D-modules, sheaves versus global sections, some more technical model categorical issues, as well as on relative Sullivan algebras. This article is the first of a series of works -located at the interface of homotopical algebra, algebraic geometry, and mathematical physics - on a derived D-geometric approach to the …
Described the algebraic structure on the space of homotopy classes of cycles with marked topological flags of disks. This space is a non-commutative monoid, with an Abelian quotient corresponding to the group of singular homologies $H_k(M)$. For the marked flag contracted to a point the multiplication becomes commutative and the subgroup of spherical cycles corresponds to the usual homotopy group $π_k(M)$.
We observe that the oriented homeomorphism type of a simply- connected smooth projective surface is determined by its algebraic structure modulo an odd prime of good reduction.
In this paper we take some classical ideas from commutative algebra, mostly ideas involving duality, and apply them in algebraic topology. To accomplish this we interpret properties of ordinary commutative rings in such a way that they can be extended to the more general rings that come up in homotopy theory. Amongst the rings we work with are the differential graded ring of cochains on a space, the differential graded ring of chains on the loop space, and various ring spectra, e.g., the Spanier-Whitehead duals of finite spectra or chromatic localizations of the sphere spectrum. Maybe the most…
The chapter provides an introduction to the basic concepts of Algebraic Topology with an emphasis on motivation from applications in the physical sciences. It finishes with a brief review of computational work in algebraic topology, including persistent homology.
We show in this text how the most important homology equivalences of fundamental Algebraic Topology can be obtained as reductions associated to discrete vector fields. Mainly the homology equivalences whose existence -- most often non-constructive -- is proved by the main spectral sequences, the Serre and Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequences. On the contrary, the constructive existence is here systematically looked for and obtained.
In this paper, we study the André-Quillen homology of simplicial commutative $\ell$-algebras, $\ell$ a field, having certain vanishing properties. When $\ell$ has non-zero characteristic, we obtain an algebraic version of a theorem of J.-P. Serre and Y. Umeda that characterizes such simplicial algebras having bounded homotopy groups. We further discuss how this theorem fails in the rational case and, as an application, indicate how the algebraic Serre theorem can be used to resolve a conjecture of D. Quillen for algebras of finite type over Noetherian rings, which have non-zero characteristic.
We give a new approach to the study of statistical mechanical systems: algebraic topology is used to investigate the statistical distributions of stochastic currents generated in graphs. In the adiabatic and low temperature limits we will demonstrate that quantization of current generation occurs.