Infinitesimal and \(B_{\infty}\)-algebras, finite spaces, and quasi-symmetric functions (Q908337)

The authors show ``that the set of finite spaces carries naturally (generalized) Hopf algebraic structures that are closely connected with usual topological constructions (such as joins or cup products) and familiar structures in topology (such as the one of cogroups in the category of associative algebras, or infinitesimal Hopf algebras, that have appeared, e.g., in the study of loop spaces of suspensions and the Bott-Samelson theorem.'' The main result of the paper are the following. ``The linear span \(F\) of finite spaces carries the structure of the enveloping algebra of a \(B_{\infty}\)-algebra (Theorem 19). There is a (surjective, structure preserving) Hopf algebra morphism from \(F\) to the algebra of quasi-symmetric functions (Theorem 21).''