Homology theories for commutative algebras have become a basic toolkit in various branches of modern mathematics and theoretical physics. One of the meanwhile classical homology theories, in this context, is the so-called André-Quillen homology [cf. \textit{M. André}, Homologie des algèbres commutatives, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York (1974; Zbl 0284.18009)], an important variant of the original Hochschild homology. André-Quillen homology is a fundamental construction to analyze the notion of smoothness of an algebra (and more generally of an algebraic variety), and it plays an equally significant role in algebraic deformation theory. A crucial concept in this homological approach is that of the so-called cotangent complex of an \(A\)-algebra \(B\), which is usually constructed from a free resolution of \(B\) via simplicial methods. In fact, the cotangent complex is rather viewed as a certain class in a derived category of complexes. In the paper under review, the author considers the special situation where \(B= A/I\) is a factor ring of \(A\) and he shows that the beginning of a cotangent complex of \(B\), that is the first five terms and suitable differential maps, can be obtained in a very explicit way, without using advanced simplicial methods. Starting from an arbitrary projective resolution \(P_*\) of the \(A\)-module \(B\) (with \(P_0:= A\)), the first five terms of a cotangent complex \(\Delta_*\) are then constructed from the complex \(L_*= P_*\otimes_AB\) of projective \(B\)-modules in a special manner, where the differential of \(\Delta_*\) depends of the choice of a certain product on \(P_*\) which is commutative and (in general) non-associative. The basic ingredient for this particular construction is the notion of the author's so-called enriched complexes, whose homological study finally leads to the explicit description of the beginning of the cotangent complex \(\Delta_*\). As for concrete applications of this simplified construction of the initial terms of a cotangent complex of the algebra \(B= A/I\), the author obtains some finer descriptions of the André-Quillen homology modules \(H_3(A,B,W)\) and \(H_4(A,B,W)\) for varying \(B\)-modules \(W\).
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