Institute of Mathematics

Abstract:  In the formulation of his celebrated Formality conjecture, M. Kontsevich introduced a universal version of the deformation theory for the Schouten algebra of polyvector fields on affine manifolds. This universal deformation complex takes the form of a differential graded Lie algebra of graphs, denoted fGC₂, together with an injective morphism towards the Chevalley–Eilenberg complex associated with the Schouten algebra. The latter morphism is given by explicit local formulas making implicit use of the supergeometric interpretation of the Schouten algebra as the algebra of functions on a graded symplectic manifold of degree 1. The ambition of the present work is to generalise Kontsevich’s construction to graded symplectic manifolds of arbitrary degree n ≥ 1. The corresponding graph model is given by the full Kontsevich graph complex fGC_(d) where d = n + 1 stands for the dimension of the associated AKSZ type σ-model. This generalisation is instrumental to classify universal structures on graded symplectic manifolds. In particular, the zeroth cohomology of the full graph complex fGC_(d) is shown to act via Lie_(∞)-automorphisms on the algebra of functions on graded symplectic manifolds of degree n. This generalises the known action of the Grothendieck–Teichmüller algebra ???₁ ≃ H⁰(fGC₂) on the space of polyvector fields. This extended action can in turn be used to generate new universal deformations of Hamiltonian functions, generalising Kontsevich flows on the space of Poisson manifolds to differential graded manifolds of higher degrees. As an application of the general formalism, universal deformations of Courant algebroids via trivalent graphs are presented.