Moduli spaces and formal operads (Q2572638)

The collection \(\overline{\mathcal M}:= (\overline{\mathcal M}_{g, l})\) of the moduli spaces of stable algebraic curves can be endowed with the structure of a modular operad of projective smooth Deligne-Mumford stacks by relating different moduli spaces by the operations identifying marked points. The main result of this article is the proof of the formality of the modular operad of singular chains \(S_*(\overline{\mathcal M}; \mathbb Q)\), which means that it is weakly equivalent to its homology \(H_*(\overline{\mathcal M}; \mathbb Q)\). The steps of the proof are as follows: Firstly the authors prove the formality of the singular chain functor \(S_*(\cdot; \mathbb R)\) on the category \(\mathbb{DM}\) of projective and smooth DM stacks analoguously as the formality of Kähler manifolds is usually proven. From this it follows that the functor \(S_*(\cdot; \mathbb R)\) on the category of operads in \(\mathbb{DM}\) is formal. Then they derive a criterion for the formality of operads in characteristic zero in terms of the possibility of lifting automorphisms on the homology operad. Using this criterion, they prove that formality descends in field extensions. In particular, the functor \(S_*(\cdot; \mathbb Q)\) on the category of operads in \(\mathbb{DM}\) is formal. In the last two sections, the authors generalise their results to cyclic and modular operads, thus arriving at their final result, the formality of the modular operad \(S_*(\overline{\mathcal M}; \mathbb Q)\). In order to do the generalisation, they construct minimal models for modular operads inductively over the modular dimension (which can be seen as a replacement for the notion of arity in a usual operad). The article is very clearly and concisely written. It also includes in the beginning a gentle introduction to all notions that are used in the sequel.