Curved \(A_{\infty}\)-algebras and Chern classes (Q2637470)

This paper proposes notions of connection and curvature on piecewise smooth complex vector bundles over polyhedra. A curved \(A_{\infty}\)-algebra is a generalization of differential graded (dg) algebras in which the associativity condition is replaced by an infinite sequence of identities involving higher `multiplications'. If \(V\) is a vector bundle the authors show that there is a natural bijection between curved \(A_{\infty}\)-structures on \(V\) and square zero coderivations of degree 1 on \(T(sV )\) the full tensor coalgebra of the graded vector space \(V\). The main result of the paper is that there exist explicit formulae for simplicial cochains representing the real Chern classes of a complex vector bundle \(E\) over a finite polyhedron in terms of the curved \(A_{\infty}\)-structure on matrix-valued cochains. The paper describes how once can perturb an \(A_{\infty}\)-algebra to one that is curved. Further given a curved dg algebra \(A\) that is obtained as a deformation of a dg algebra via a degree 1 element \(\gamma\) and a special contraction from \(A\) to a complex \(B\), the authors show two procedures to construct a curved \(A_{\infty}\)-structure on \(B\): One can first transfer the (Lie) dg algebra structure of \(A\) to \(B\) and then deform this transferred structure via the transferred element \(\gamma\) or one can directly transfer the curved (Lie) dg structure of \(A\) to \(B\). Using this, given a complex vector bundle \(E\) over a finite polyhedron \(X\) for each piecewise smooth idempotent \(P\) representing the \(K\)-theory class of \(E\) the authors construct a canonical curved \(A_{\infty}\)-structure on the space of matrix-valued simplicial cochains on a sufficiently fine subdivision of \(X\). Now letting \((A, \{m_{k}\}^{\infty}_{k=0})\) be a curved \(A_{\infty}\)-algebra, \((C, d)\) a chain complex, and \(\Phi : A \rightarrow C\) a linear map of degree zero, the authors define a Chern-Weil triple as \((A,\Phi, C)\) where \(\Phi\) satisfies certain conditions. These conditions allow the authors to define cocycles in \(C\) from which they can construct the Chern classes.