A model for configuration spaces of points (Q6112529)

In this paper, the authors provide combinatorial models for the real homotopy type of configuration spaces of closed smooth oriented manifolds of dimension at least 2. Their model for the configuration spaces \(\mathrm{Conf}_r(M)\), as \(r\) ranges over the natural numbers, is a dg Hopf collection consisting of dg commutative \(\mathbb{R}\)-algebras with symmetric group actions, \({}^*\mathrm{Graphs}_M(r)\). Roughly, \({}^*\mathrm{Graphs}_M(r)\) consists of linear combinations of graphs in which the vertices are decorated by elements of the symmetric algebra on the reduced cohomology of \(M\). This is a generalization of Kontsevich's dg cooperad \({}^* \mathrm{Graphs}_D\), which models the little disks operad. If \(M\) is parallelizable, \({}^* \mathrm{Graphs}_M\) is furthermore a right cooperadic comodule over \({}^* \mathrm{Graphs}_D\), just as configuration spaces in a parallelizable manifold form a right operadic module over the little disks operad. The differential on \({}^* \mathrm{Graphs}_M\) is defined using the partition function \(Z_M\) of the perturbative AKSZ \(\sigma\)-model on \(M\). As a result of this construction, the real homotopy type of \(\mathrm{Conf}_r(M)\) depends only on \(Z_M\). The authors then study these models, and the partition function \(Z_M\), and show that for \(M\) simply connected, \({}^* \mathrm{Graphs}_M\) depends only on the real homotopy type of \(M\). This settles the \(\mathbb{R}\)-based version of a long-standing question in algebraic topology, showing that for a simply-connected closed smooth oriented manifold \(M\), the real homotopy type of \(\mathrm{Conf}_r(M)\) depends only on the real homotopy type of \(M\).