A master identity for homotopy Gerstenhaber algebras (Q1970900)

The paper is devoted to the introduction and systematical investigation of topological and algebraical structures in Gerstenhaber algebras. The latter have as prototype the Hochschild complex with corresponding differential and cup product. Similar objects were also considered in the string theory (BRST algebras), in the theory of topological vertex operators where a common language of multilinear maps and their compositions (for example, Gerstenhaber's braces and multibraces) was used. There it was shown that the iterated composition of operations on multilinear maps satisfy many algebraic identities resembling those in the context of operads and homotopy algebras. The author gives new definition of the homotopy Gerstenhaber algebra (\(G_{\infty}\)). At first he introduces ``partitioned multilinear maps'' \(x(\pi)\) which are not different from ordinary multilinear maps except in composition. The ordered partitions \(\pi=(i_1|\ldots|i_r)\) of non-negative integers give a grouping of the arguments of the map \(x\) and the algebra generated by the ``products'' of such partitions governs the composition rule for two maps: if \(\pi * \pi'=\pi_1+ \ldots +\pi_n,\) then \(\{x(\pi)\}\{y(\pi')\}=\sum_{i=1} ^n z_i(\pi_i),\) where the resulting partitioned maps \(z_i(\pi_i)\) are rigorously defined in the paper. Then the author gives the algebraic master equation connecting the iterated compositions of operations on mutilinear maps. The author's definition of the homotopy Gerstenhaber algebra (\(G_{\infty}\)) differs from the classical one in certain aspects involving symmetries. It permits to detect some higher identities which were not known earlier. In conclusion, the author considers in the light of his terminology the known and some new examples: the truncated Hochschild complex, the full extended Hochschild space, topological vertex operator algebras and vertex operator superalgebras, Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras, etc. The interpretations of the BRST operator, the Wick bracket, the odd trilinear operation and the odd bilinear product of \textit{B. H. Lian} and \textit{G. J. Zuckerman} [Commun. Math. Phys. 154, No. 3, 613-646 (1993; Zbl 0780.17029)] are given.