Monads and distributive laws for Rota-Baxter and differential algebras (Q895973)

The paper under review studies monads and comonads arising from Rota-Baxter algebras, differential algebras and differential Rota-Baxter algebras. While differential algebra reflects an abstract approach to the study of differential equations, a Rota-Baxter algebra is an algebraic abstraction of integration: a Rota-Baxter algebra of weight \(\lambda\) is a pair \((R, P)\) where \(R\) is an algebra over a fixed commutative ring \(\mathbf k\) and \(P\) is a \(\mathbf k\)-linear endomorphism (``Rota-Baxter operator'') of \(R\) such that \(P(x)P(y) = P(xP(y)) + P(yP(x)) + \lambda P(xy)\) for any \(x, y\in R\). In this paper the authors construct the monad giving Rota-Baxter algebras and comonad giving differential algebras. They also justify the interaction of the Rota-Baxter operator and the differential operator from a categorial point of view by providing a mixed distributive law between the monad and comonad giving these two operators. The last part of the work shows that this mixed distributive law, as well as the monads and comonads, provides equivalent descriptions of the objects in the category of differential Rota-Baxter algebras. (A differential Rota-Baxter algebra of weight \(\lambda\) is a triple \((R, P, d)\) such that \((R,P)\) is Rota-Baxter algebra of weight \(\lambda\), \((R, P)\) is differential algebra of weight \(\lambda\) (where \(d\) is a \(\lambda\)-derivation, that is, a module \(\mathbf k\)-endomorphism of \(R\) such that \(d(xy) = d(x)y + xd(y) + \lambda d(x)d(y)\) for all \(x, y\in R\)), and \(d\circ P = id_{R}\).) The authors also give an illustrating example considering the algebra of infinitely differentiable functions \(C^\infty(\mathbb R)\) that can be treated (because of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus) as a differential Rota-Baxter algebra.