Almost commutative \(Q\)-algebras and derived brackets (Q2032762)

Almost commutative algebras, also known as p-commutative algebras, have been studied since the 1980s following the work of \textit{V. Rittenberg} and \textit{D. Wyler} [``Generalized superalgebras'', Nuclear Phys. B, 139, No. 3, 189--202 (1978)] and \textit{M. Scheunert} [J. Math. Phys. 20, 712--720 (1979; Zbl 0423.17003)] on generalized Lie algebras. This is an algebra that is commutative up to some ``commutation factor''. A natural example of such an algebra is the Z2-commutative algebra of global functions on a supermanifold where the commutation factor is simply a plus or minus sign. Almost commutative algebras are `close enough' to commutative and supercommutative algebras to allow many of the constructions found in differential geometry to be directly generalized. By using almost commutative algebras one can largely mimic classical differential geometry following the derivation based approach to noncommutative geometry of \textit{M. Dubois-Violette} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I 307, No. 8, 403--408 (1988; Zbl 0661.17012)]. The authors of the paper under review modify the understanding of Lie algebroids due to \textit{A. Yu. Vaintrob} [Russ. Math. Surv. 52, No. 2, 428--429 (1997; Zbl 0955.58017); translation from Usp. Mat. Nauk 52, No. 2, 161--162 (1997)] to the setting of almost commutative algebras. They work with very particular almost commutative algebras that carry an additional N-grading, which they refer to as ``weight''. The assignment of weight is quite independent of the commutation rules. They view these algebras as the natural generalization of a graded bundle or a non-negatively graded manifold, which are themselves generalizations of vector bundles. The authors introduce the concept of homological \(p\)-derivations and almost commutative Q-algebras and construct almost commutative Lie algebroids. They present the notion of an almost commutative non-negatively graded algebra and study almost commutative Q-algebras equipped with a non-negative grading and show how the derived bracket formalism can be applied to this setting. As a particular example, they re-examine first order differential calculi on almost commutative algebras and, just as in the classical case of the de Rham complex on a smooth manifold, they are able to interpret the Lie bracket on p-derivations as a derived bracket.