Differentiable and algebroid cohomology, Van Est isomorphisms, and characteristic classes (Q1422170)

The classieal Van Est isomorphism is the main tool that relates the differentiable cohomology of Lie groups to the cohomology of Lie algebras. Using this point of view, the author deduces several new relations between the differentiable cohomology of Lie groupoids and the cohomoloy of Lie algebroids. The first two sections present a well written survey of the basic facts concerning Lie groupoid and Lie algebroid cohomologies as well as numerous original comparison results. The third section is devoted to the characteristic classes in algebraic cohomology. At the end some applications to Poisson manifolds are discussed.