Formality of Sinha's cosimplicial model for long knots spaces and the Gerstenhaber algebra structure of homology (Q1954179)

Consider the space of long knots modulo immersions in \(\mathbb R^N\), \(\overline{\text{Emb}}(\mathbb R, \mathbb R^N)\) (first take spaces of embeddings and immersions of \(\mathbb R\) in \(\mathbb R^N\) that agree with the standard embedding of \(\mathbb R\) outside some compact set and then take the homotopy fiber of the inclusion of embeddings in immersions). Based on the theory of manifold calculus of functors, \textit{D. P. Sinha} constructed in [J. Am. Math. Soc. 19, No. 2, 461--486 (2006; Zbl 1112.57004)] a cosimplicial space \(\mathcal K_N^{\bullet}\) associated to the Kontsevich operad \(\mathcal K_N\) (this operad essentially consists of Fulton-MacPherson compactifications of configuration spaces of point in \(\mathbb R^N\)) and showed that the totalization of this cosimplicial space is equivalent to \(\overline{\text{Emb}}(\mathbb R, \mathbb R^N)\) for \(N\geq 4\). In addition, one has a homology spectral sequence associated to \(\mathcal K_N^{\bullet}\) that converges to the totalization, and hence to the homology of \(\overline{\text{Emb}}(\mathbb R, \mathbb R^N)\), for \(N\geq 4\). The spectral sequence can still be constructed for \(N=3\) (classical knots), although it is not known whether it converges to the totalization of \(\mathcal K_3^{\bullet}\). In addition, it is not known whether this totalization is equivalent to \(\overline{\text{Emb}}(\mathbb R, \mathbb R^3)\). In [Geom. Topol. 14, No. 4, 2151--2187 (2010; Zbl 1222.57020)], \textit{P. Lambrechts, V. Turchin} and \textit{I. Volić} showed that the rational homology spectral sequence collapses at the \(E^2\) page for \(N\geq 4\). The proof uses Kontsevich's formality of the little balls operad, but it is not as direct as one might hope. The main result of the paper under review is a new, streamlined proof of this result, as well as its improvement to the case \(N=3\). Namely, the author uses some general category-theoretic methods in the category of nonsymmetric operads to show that the cosimplicial space \(\mathcal K_N^{\bullet}\) itself is formal for \(N\geq 3\) and is then able to deduce the collapse of the rational homology spectral sequence (the authors of [loc. cit.] had a more roundabout method that excluded the case \(N=3\)). In addition, the author is able to exhibit an isomorphism between the Gerstenhaber algebra structures between the \(E^2\) page and the homology of long knots for \(N\geq 4\). Having the collapse of Sinha's spectral sequence for \(N=3\) is a very nice result. What remains to be examined is the relationship between this spectral sequence and the homology of classical long knots modulo immersions. The hope is that the \(E^2\) page will contain useful information about the totalization of \(\mathcal K_3^{\bullet}\) and that this totalization will in turn contain useful information about the homology of \(\overline{\text{Emb}}(\mathbb R, \mathbb R^3)\).