The semi-classical approximation for modular operads (Q1270188)

The semi-classical approximation is a formula of mathematical physics for the sum of Feynman diagrams with a single circuit. This paper studies the same problem in the setting of modular operads, using the results and techniques which were developed by \textit{E. Getzler} and \textit{M. M. Kapranov} [in: ``Modular operads'', Compos. Math. 110, No. 1, 65-126 (1998; Zbl 0894.18005)]. Instead of being a number, the interaction at a vertex of valence \(n\) is an \(S_n\)-module. The motivation for this theory is the computation of the \(S_n\)-equivariant Hodge polynomials of the Deligne-Mumford-Knudsen moduli spaces of stable curves of genus 1 with \(n\) marked smooth points [see also \textit{E. Getzler}, ``Intersection theory on \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{1,4}\) and elliptic Gromov-Witten invariants'', J. Am. Math. Soc. 10, No. 4, 973-998 (1997; Zbl 0909.14002)]. As an application, the author gives in the present article formulas for the Betti numbers of these spaces.