The Boardman-Vogt resolution of operads in monoidal model categories (Q2503374)

In ``Homotopy-everything \(H\)-spaces'' [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 74, 1117--1122 (1968; Zbl 0165.26204)] and ``Homotopy invariant algebraic structures on topological spaces'' [Lect. Notes Math. 347 (1973; Zbl 0285.55012)] J. \textit{M. Boardman} and the reviewer defined a type of bar construction, called \(W\)-construction, for operads (categories of operators resp. topological PROPs in their terminology). The construction has a universal property which turned out to be extremely useful in their investigation of homotopy invariance of algebraic structures defined by operads. In more modern language, this \(W\)-construction provides a functorial cofibrant replacement for well-pointed \(\Sigma\)-free topological operads [see \textit{R. M. Vogt}, Topology Appl. 133, 69--87 (2003; Zbl 1076.18007)]. The present paper extends this construction to operads in arbitrary symmetric monoidal categories having a segment, i.e., an object having properties similar to the unit interval. Examples of such categories are the categories of topological spaces, of simplicial sets, and of chain complexes. The behavior of the construction under maps of segments, maps of operads, and symmetric monoidal functors is studied. There are well-known cofibrant replacement constructions for operads in the categories of chain complexes and of simplicial sets: the cobar-bar resolution and the standard simplicial Godement resolution arising from the free-fotgetful adjunction between pointed collections and operads. The authors compare these resolutions with the \(W\)-construction. To obtain a fairly general comparison with the Godement resolution they include an appendix about geometric realizations in monoidal model categories. The authors also present a relative \(W\)-construction for operads under a fixed operad. The existence of such a construction has been folklore at least in the topological case, but neither have its precise properties been stated in print before nor has it been considered in such great generality.