Operads and algebraic geometry (Q1126728)

The author discusses new developments in the theories of operads and algebraic varieties which arise from their mutual interplay. Operads will be recalled and their importance in algebraic geometry will be discussed. In particular the description of known algebraic structures in terms of operads (``universal algebra approach'') and the algebro-geometric examples like the operads derived from the moduli stack of stable pointed curves with certain genus are related by homology. Also the combinatorics of trees and operads are closely related. For instance it has been shown by \textit{V. Ginzburg} and the author that the tree parts of graph complexes which are important in the quasiclassical description of Chern-Simons invariants and for the cohomology of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras can be generalized in terms of operads. To be more detailed, for a family of differential-graded (dg) vector spaces the free operad generated by this family as well as the suspension (with twisted \(S_n\)-actions) can be defined. Then to any dg-operad \(\mathcal P\) with \({\mathcal P}(0)=0\) and \({\mathcal P}(1)= {\mathbb C}\) a free operad generated by the suspension of the duals of \({\mathcal P}(n)\), \(n>1\) exists which has a natural structure of a dg-operad \({\mathbb D}({\mathcal P})\), the so-called cobar-dual of \(\mathcal P\). The double cobar-dual is quasiisomorphic to \(\mathcal P\). These results may be interpreted as some sort of cohomology theory on the category of (dg-)operads. For quadratic operads a natural Koszul dual operad can be defined in analogy to Koszul duals of algebras. Any quadratic operad \(\mathcal P\) admits a natural morphism of dg-operads of the cobar-dual of \(\mathcal P\) into the Koszul dual of \(\mathcal P\), and \(\mathcal P\) is called Koszul if this morphism is a quasi-isomorphism. In particular the operads \textit{As, Com, Lie} are Koszul. Next, an operad \(\mathcal P\) will be called cyclic if there is an action of the symmetric category of permutations on \(\mathcal P\) which is compatible with composition in a certain sense. Cyclic operads provide an invariant scalar product on their \(\mathcal P\)-algebras. The above mentioned algebro-geometric operads over the moduli stack of stable pointed curves with certain genus are cyclic. Using the notion of cyclic operad so-called (twisted) modular operads can be defined, and in turn a more general definition of cobar-duality on these sort of operads again covers the graph complexes in rather full generality. Then an Euler characteristic on these cobar-dual twisted modular dg-operads \(F({\mathcal P})\) can be derived solely in terms of the underlying modular dg-operad \(\mathcal P\). In particular for \({\mathcal P}=As\) this result relates the integral of the Fourier transform, the topological Euler characteristic, the Euler, Möbius and Riemann zeta functions. Eventually, the author explains the usefulness of operads in the theory of characteristic classes in geometry. Then he discusses (heuristic) generalizations of these results to noncommutative \(\mathcal P\)-geometries based on ``arbitrary'' operads for which these generalized notions are meaningful.