A simplicial \(A_\infty\)-operad acting on \(R\)-resolutions (Q834000)

This paper is concerned with finding a specific model for an \(A_\infty\)-operad suitable for the following situation. For \(X\) a simplicial set and \(K\) a commutative ring, Bousfield and Kan defined a cosimplicial space \(R_K(X)\) called the \(K\)-resolution of \(X\). There are several different models for the \(K\)-completion of \(X\). They conjectured that one of these models, denoted \(X^{\text{pro}}_K\), as well as \(R_K\) itself, had the structure of a monad. In earlier work, the authors showed that the \(K\)-completion in fact has the more subtle structure of an \(A_\infty\)-monad. In the current paper, they find an explicit way to model this structure on \(R_K\). Specifically, they define an \(A_\infty\)-operad TW and show that \(R_K\) is an algebra over it. This operad, which they call the ``twist map operad'', is described both informally, in terms of braid-like diagrams, and formally, in terms of simplicial objects in the category of small monoidal categories.