Holonomies for connections with values in \(L_\infty\)-algebras (Q2444580)

The authors extend the definition of the holonomy of a flat connection with values in a Lie algebra to the \(L_{\infty}\)-algebra setting. They first observe that the classical holonomy of a flat connection \(\alpha\) over a manifold \(M\) and with values in a complete Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\) can be interpreted as a morphism of differential graded algebras \(\mathsf{hol}_{\alpha}: C_{\bullet}(M)\rightarrow B\hat{\mathbb{U}}(\mathfrak{g})\), where \(C_{\bullet}(M)\) denotes the singular chain complex associated to the manifold \(M\), and \(B\hat{\mathbb{U}}(\mathfrak{g})\) represents the bar construction \(B(-)\) on the completed enveloping algebra \(\hat{\mathbb{U}}(-)\) of our Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\). They prove that an analogous morphism of differential graded algebras can be defined in the case where \(\mathfrak{g}\) is an \(L_{\infty}\)-algebra. The main idea is to replace the (completed) enveloping algebra of the classical construction \(\hat{\mathbb{U}}(\mathfrak{g})\) by the (completed) enveloping algebra of a strictification of the \(L_{\infty}\)-algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\). Then the authors examine define a generalization, for connections defined on configuration spaces of dimension \(d\geq 2\), of the Drinfeld-Kohno holonomy representations of braid groups.