Left and right centers in quasi-Poisson geometry of moduli spaces (Q2344270)

The notion of quasi-Poisson manifolds was introduced by \textit{A. Alekseev} et al. [Can. J. Math. 54, No. 1, 3--29 (2002; Zbl 1006.53072)]. In the same way as Poisson structures are analogous to non-commutative algebras, quasi-Poisson structures are analogous to non-commutative algebras in a braided monoideal category. Motivated by this analogy, the author of this paper introduces left central and right central functions, and the corresponding left and right leaves of quasi-Poisson manifolds, generalizing central (also known as Casimir) functions and symplectic leaves of Poisson manifolds. These notions lead to a new type of (quasi-)Poisson reduction, called central reduction by the author, which contains, as a special case, the theory of the reduction of (quasi-)Hamiltonian spaces. This new reduction relies on a structure called a central pair. An important fact is that under some mild conditions, there exists a fusion product between two central pairs which is analogous to the fusion of quasi-Poisson manifolds. This point of view allows the author to define the fusion of D/H-valued moment maps [\textit{A. Alekseev} and \textit{Y. Kosmann-Schwarzbach}, J. Differ. Geom. 56, No. 1, 133--165 (2000; Zbl 1046.53055)], which was previously missing. The author studies these notions and gives examples in details for moduli spaces of flat connections on surfaces, where the quasi-Poisson structure is given by an intersection pairing on homology.