Homotopy associative algebra

In mathematics, an algebra such as has multiplication whose associativity is well-defined on the nose. This means for any real numbers we have

.

But, there are algebras which are not necessarily associative, meaning if then

in general. There is a notion of algebras, called -algebras, which still have a property on the multiplication which still acts like the first relation, meaning associativity holds, but only holds up to a homotopy, which is a way to say after an operation "compressing" the information in the algebra, the multiplication is associative. This means although we get something which looks like the second equation, the one of inequality, we actually get equality after "compressing" the information in the algebra.

The study of -algebras is a subset of homotopical algebra, where there is a homotopical notion of associative algebras through a differential graded algebra with a multiplication operation and a series of higher homotopies giving the failure for the multiplication to be associative. Loosely, an -algebra[1] is a -graded vector space over a field with a series of operations on the -th tensor powers of . The corresponds to a chain complex differential, is the multiplication map, and the higher are a measure of the failure of associativity of the . When looking at the underlying cohomology algebra , the map should be an associative map. Then, these higher maps should be interpreted as higher homotopies, where is the failure of to be associative, is the failure for to be higher associative, and so forth. Their structure was originally discovered by Jim Stasheff[2][3] while studying A∞-spaces, but this was interpreted as a purely algebraic structure later on. These are spaces equipped with maps that are associative only up to homotopy, and the A∞ structure keeps track of these homotopies, homotopies of homotopies, and so forth.

They are ubiquitous in homological mirror symmetry because of their necessity in defining the structure of the Fukaya category of D-branes on a Calabi–Yau manifold who have only a homotopy associative structure.

Definition

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Definition

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For a fixed field   an  -algebra[4] is a  -graded vector space

 

equipped with morphisms   of degree   for each   satisfying a coherence condition: for all  ,

 .

An  -morphism of  -algebras   is a family of morphisms   of degree   satisfying a similar coherence condition: for all  , where  . (In both coherence conditions, the signs in the sums can be bypassed by shifting the grading by one.)

Understanding the coherence conditions

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The coherence conditions are easy to write down for low degrees.

For   this is the condition that

 ,

since   gives   and thus  . This means that   is a differential on  .

The coherence condition for   gives  or  This is the fact that the multiplication   is a chain map with respect to the differential  .

In this degree the coherence condition reads

 

Notice that the left hand side of the equation is the failure of the multiplication   to make   into an algebra which is associative on the nose. The right hand side is the differential on   applied to the triple product plus the triple product applied to the differential on  , and says precisely that associativity holds up to a homotopy given by  . In particular, we have that the multiplication induced by   on   is strictly associative.

Note if   then   is a differential graded algebra with multiplication  , as the vanishing of   means that   is associative on the nose.

n=4 and higher order terms

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In higher degrees the coherency conditions give many different terms. We can arrange the right hand side to be a chain homotopy given by   as we did in the case of  :

 

while the terms on the left hand side indicate the failure of lower   terms to satisfy a kind of generalized associativity. In essence, this means that an   algebra may fail to be "higher-associative" in every degree, but at every degree its failure to be so will be parametrized by a chain homotopy given by the higher multiplication in the next degree.

Diagrammatic interpretation of axioms

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There is a nice diagrammatic formalism of algebras which is described in Algebra+Homotopy=Operad[5] explaining how to visually think about this higher homotopies. This intuition is encapsulated with the discussion above algebraically, but it is useful to visualize it as well.

The bar construction; interpretation as a coderivation

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Since the definition of an  -algebra requires an infinite sequence of higher multiplications, one might hope that there is a way to repackage the definition in terms of a single structure with finitely many operations. This is possible (after a little setup) by reinterpreting the   as components of a single map instead.

Given a (graded) vector space  , the reduced tensor coalgebra   on   is   with the (non-cocommutative) coproduct   given by splitting of tensors, i.e.,  , where we write the internal tensor product of   with the standard tensor product symbol and the external tensor product used in defining a coproduct with the vertical stroke for clarity. Given any coalgebra  , there is a canonical filtration of   defined by  , where  ,  ;   is called cocomplete if  . The reduced tensor coalgebra is the universal cocomplete coalgebra over  , i.e., for any other cocomplete coalgebra  , there is a natural bijection between the coalgebra maps from   to   and the graded vector space maps  .

A coderivation on a coalgebra   is a  -module map   satisfying the "co-Leibniz rule" . The suspension   of a graded vector space   is the graded vector space defined by  .

With this notation, we have the following fact: an  -algebra structure on a graded vector space   is the same thing as a coderivation   on   which is a differential, that is,  . To see this, note that   is determined by its composite with the quotient   since   is the cofree cocomplete coalgebra on  . We obtain the   by decomposing the composite into   and unshifting the map to a map from   to  . The condition that   be a coderivation yields  , with  , and the condition that   yields   for all  , or equivalently  , which unshifts to the standard (signed) conditions on the   due to the sign rule for shifting complexes. The differential graded coalgebra   defined in this way is called the bar construction[4] on   and denoted  .

Many notions are easier to write out by considering  -algebras via their bar constructions. For instance, a morphism   of  -algebras is equivalently a morphism of differential graded coalgebras  , a quasiisomorphism of  -algebras is equivalently a quasiisomorphism of differential graded coalgebras, and a homotopy between  -algebra morphisms is equivalently a homotopy between differential graded coalgebra morphisms.

Examples

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Associative algebras

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Every associative algebra   has an  -infinity structure by defining   and   for  . Hence  -algebras generalize associative algebras.

Differential graded algebras

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Every differential graded algebra   has a canonical structure as an  -algebra[1] where   and   is the multiplication map. All other higher maps   are equal to  . Using the structure theorem for minimal models, there is a canonical  -structure on the graded cohomology algebra   which preserves the quasi-isomorphism structure of the original differential graded algebra. One common example of such dga's comes from the Koszul algebra arising from a regular sequence. This is an important result because it helps pave the way for the equivalence of homotopy categories

 

of differential graded algebras and  -algebras.

Cochain algebras of H-spaces

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One of the motivating examples of  -algebras comes from the study of H-spaces. Whenever a topological space   is an H-space, its associated singular chain complex   has a canonical  -algebra structure from its structure as an H-space.[3]

Example with infinitely many non-trivial mi

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Consider the graded algebra   over a field   of characteristic   where   is spanned by the degree   vectors   and   is spanned by the degree   vector  .[6][7] Even in this simple example there is a non-trivial  -structure which gives differentials in all possible degrees. This is partially due to the fact there is a degree   vector, giving a degree   vector space of rank   in  . Define the differential   by

 

and for  

 

where   on any map not listed above and  . In degree  , so for the multiplication map, we have   And in   the above relations give

 

When relating these equations to the failure for associativity, there exist non-zero terms. For example, the coherence conditions for   will give a non-trivial example where associativity doesn't hold on the nose. Note that in the cohomology algebra   we have only the degree   terms   since   is killed by the differential  .

Properties

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Transfer of A structure

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One of the key properties of  -algebras is their structure can be transferred to other algebraic objects given the correct hypotheses. An early rendition of this property was the following: Given an  -algebra   and a homotopy equivalence of complexes

 ,

then there is an  -algebra structure on   inherited from   and   can be extended to a morphism of  -algebras. There are multiple theorems of this flavor with different hypotheses on   and  , some of which have stronger results, such as uniqueness up to homotopy for the structure on   and strictness on the map  .[8]

Structure

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Minimal models and Kadeishvili's theorem

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One of the important structure theorems for  -algebras is the existence and uniqueness of minimal models – which are defined as  -algebras where the differential map   is zero. Taking the cohomology algebra   of an  -algebra   from the differential  , so as a graded algebra,

 ,

with multiplication map  . It turns out this graded algebra can then canonically be equipped with an  -structure,

 ,

which is unique up-to quasi-isomorphisms of  -algebras.[9] In fact, the statement is even stronger: there is a canonical  -morphism

 ,

which lifts the identity map of  . Note these higher products are given by the Massey product.

Motivation

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This theorem is very important for the study of differential graded algebras because they were originally introduced to study the homotopy theory of rings. Since the cohomology operation kills the homotopy information, and not every differential graded algebra is quasi-isomorphic to its cohomology algebra, information is lost by taking this operation. But, the minimal models let you recover the quasi-isomorphism class while still forgetting the differential. There is an analogous result for A∞-categories by Maxim Kontsevich and Yan Soibelman, giving an A∞-category structure on the cohomology category   of the dg-category consisting of cochain complexes of coherent sheaves on a non-singular variety   over a field   of characteristic   and morphisms given by the total complex of the Cech bi-complex of the differential graded sheaf  [1]pg 586-593. In this was, the degree   morphisms in the category   are given by  .

Applications

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There are several applications of this theorem. In particular, given a dg-algebra, such as the de Rham algebra  , or the Hochschild cohomology algebra, they can be equipped with an  -structure.

Massey structure from DGA's

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Given a differential graded algebra   its minimal model as an  -algebra   is constructed using the Massey products. That is,

 

It turns out that any  -algebra structure on   is closely related to this construction. Given another  -structure on   with maps  , there is the relation[10]

 ,

where

 .

Hence all such  -enrichments on the cohomology algebra are related to one another.

Graded algebras from its ext algebra

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Another structure theorem is the reconstruction of an algebra from its ext algebra. Given a connected graded algebra

 ,

it is canonically an associative algebra. There is an associated algebra, called its Ext algebra, defined as

 ,

where multiplication is given by the Yoneda product. Then, there is an  -quasi-isomorphism between   and  . This identification is important because it gives a way to show that all derived categories are derived affine, meaning they are isomorphic to the derived category of some algebra.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Aspinwall, Paul (2009). Dirichlet branes and mirror symmetry. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0-8218-3848-8. OCLC 939927173.
  2. ^ Stasheff, Jim (2018-09-04). "L and A structures: then and now". arXiv:1809.02526 [math.QA].
  3. ^ a b Stasheff, James Dillon (1963). "Homotopy Associativity of H-Spaces. II". Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. 108 (2): 293–312. doi:10.2307/1993609. ISSN 0002-9947. JSTOR 1993609.
  4. ^ a b Lefèvre-Hasegawa, Kenji (2003-10-21), Sur les A-infini catégories, arXiv:math/0310337, arXiv:math/0310337
  5. ^ Vallette, Bruno (2012-02-15). "Algebra+Homotopy=Operad". arXiv:1202.3245 [math.AT].
  6. ^ Allocca, Michael; Lada, Thomas. "A Finite Dimensional A-infinity algebra example" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 Sep 2020.
  7. ^ Daily, Marilyn; Lada, Tom (2005). "A finite dimensional $L_\infty$ algebra example in gauge theory". Homology, Homotopy and Applications. 7 (2): 87–93. doi:10.4310/HHA.2005.v7.n2.a4. ISSN 1532-0073.
  8. ^ Burke, Jesse (2018-01-26). "Transfer of A-infinity structures to projective resolutions". arXiv:1801.08933 [math.KT].
  9. ^ Kadeishvili, Tornike (2005-04-21). "On the homology theory of fibre spaces". arXiv:math/0504437.
  10. ^ Buijs, Urtzi; Moreno-Fernández, José Manuel; Murillo, Aniceto (2019-02-19). "A-infinity structures and Massey products". arXiv:1801.03408 [math.AT].