A cochain level proof of Adem relations in the mod 2 Steenrod algebra (Q2063062)

The purpose of this article is to revisit the proof of the Adem relations for the Steenrod reduced square cohomology operations with \(\mathbb{F}_2\)-coefficients by making explicit cochain homotopies that determine this relation. The authors rely on N. Steenrod's original definition of the reduced square operations in terms of the higher cup-products \(\mathrm{Sq}^{k-i}(\alpha) = \alpha\smile_i\alpha\), for \(\alpha\) a cocycle of degree \(k\) in the normalized cochain complex \(N^*(X)\) of a simplicial set \(X\), and on the explicit definition of the higher cup-products \(\smile_i: N^*(X)\otimes N^*(X)\rightarrow N^*(X)\), given in \textit{N. E. Steenrod}'s paper [Ann. Math. (2) 48, 290--320 (1947; Zbl 0030.41602)]. In general, one can associate a cochain operation \(\theta_x: N^k(X)\rightarrow N^{kn-i}(X)\) to any element \(x\in N_i(B\Sigma_n)\), where we consider the normalized chain complex of the classifying space of the symmetric group on \(n\) letters \(\Sigma_n\). The authors observe that this correspondence can be made more precise by using the action of the Barratt--Eccles operad \(\mathcal{E}\) on the cochain complex of simplicial sets defined by \textit{C. Berger} and the reviewer in [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 137, No. 1, 135--174 (2004; Zbl 1056.55006)]. We then take the standard simplicial model of the classifying spaces \(B\Sigma_n\) and we use the identity \(N_i(B\Sigma_n) = \mathcal{E}(n)_{\Sigma_n}\), where we take the coinvariants of the components of the Barratt-Eccles operad under the action of the symmetric groups. The Steenrod squares operations are, via the cochain formula \(\mathrm{Sq}^{k-i}(\alpha) = \alpha\smile_i\alpha\), associated to the generators of the \(\mathbb{F}_2\)-vector spaces \(N_i(B\Sigma_2) = \mathbb{F}_2 x_i\). The composites of the Steenrod square operations that occur in the Adem relations are represented by elements of the complex~\(N_*(B\Sigma_4)\) that come from \(N_*(BD_8)\), where \(D_8\) is the subgroup of \(\Sigma_4\) of order 8 generated by the permutations \((1\ 2)\), \((3\ 4)\) and \((1\ 3)(2\ 4)\). The authors also consider the Klein subgroup \(V_4\subset\Sigma_4\), which satisfies \(V_4\subset D_8\) and is isomorphic to \(\Sigma_2\times\Sigma_2\). They give an expansion of cross product elements \(x_i\times x_j\in N_*(B(\Sigma_2\times\Sigma_2)) = N_*(B V_4)\) in~\(N_*(B\Sigma_4)\) involving a sum of composites of the Steenrod square cochain operations of the form that occur in the Adem relations together with explicitly defined coboundaries. Eventually, they use that the cross product is commutative up to an explicitly defined cochain homotopy to get an explicit representation of coboundaries that give the Adem relations when we take the action of our operations on the normalized cochain complex of a simplicial set.