On the secondary Steenrod algebra (Q713066)

This article will be of interest to anyone wishing to calculate Massey triple products of Steenrod squares or the \(d_2\) differential in the Adams spectral sequence. The author constructs a smaller and more calculable exact sequence capturing most of the information on secondary operations encoded in Baues' secondary Steenrod algebra [\textit{H-J. Baues}, The algebra of secondary cohomology operations. Progress in Mathematics, Vol. 247. Birkhäuser (2006; Zbl 1091.55001)]. The article proves that the sequence of smaller objects is weakly equivalent to the secondary Steenrod algebra as crossed algebra, although this must be done through an intermediary sequence because Baues' construction contains more information being a secondary Hopf algebra. There is an emphasis on how to use the construction to make calculations accessible to anyone familiar with the Steenrod algebra and the standard notations of basis and dual basis elements.