A two-sided bar construction is a simplicial object associated with the data of a left module and right module over a monad.
Let be a 2-category, and let be a monad with multiplication and unit . Recall that a left module over consists of a 1-cell and a 2-cell such that the diagrams
commute. A right module over consists of a 1-cell and a 2-cell such that the diagrams
commute.
With the aid of string diagrams, one may easily visualize the structure that is initial amongst 2-categories equipped with the data of monad and left and right modules over the monad. The 2-category has three 0-cells , , and , 1-cells which are of the form
and the nonempty hom-categories may be described as follows:
is isomorphic to the “algebraist’s ” (see simplex category): the category of finite ordinals and order-preserving maps;
is isomorphic to : the category of nonempty finite ordinals and order-preserving maps that preserve the bottom element;
is isomorphic to : the category of nonempty finite ordinals and order-preserving maps that preserve the top element;
is isomorphic to the “topologist’s ” (the usual simplex category), which is isomorphic to the category of finite intervals, whose objects are finite ordinals with at least two elements, and whose morphisms are order-preserving maps that preserve both top and bottom.
Note that the structure of simply recapitulates the universal property of the algebraist’s , as initial among strict monoidal categories equipped with a monoid . This result is most easily understood in terms of string diagrams, and the structure of the other hom-categories is guided by similar string diagram considerations.
Now we give the definition. Suppose given a 2-category together with a monad in , together with a left module and a right module . There is a unique 2-functor
which preserves the monad and module structures, and this induces a functor
This functor is the two-sided bar construction, denoted .
The structure of the two-sided bar construction may be given more concretely as follows:
The -dimensional component of is
The face maps
are (), (), and ().
The degeneracy maps
are ().
Two-sided bar constructions encapsulate a surprising number of constructions, a few of which follow.
Consider the cartesian monoidal category as a 1-object bicategory (which we may strictify to a 2-category). A topological monoid is the same as a monad in , and the usual meaning of left and right -modules is preserved by thinking of them as modules over the monad.
In particular, may be regarded as a left or right -module, and the 1-point space carries a unique structure of left or right -module. As a result we may consider the simplicial space
as base space, and the simplicial space
as total space, of a simplicial fibration
induced by the unique left module map . This is the classifying bundle? of the monoid .
If is a monad and is a (left-sided) -algebra, then with acting upon itself on the right, there is a simplicial object
which may be regarded as a cofibrant replacement of , a simplicial -algebra which as a simplicial object is homotopy-equivalent to the constant simplicial object at . (More should be added here.) See also bar construction.
Rather more generally, if in addition is a right -module, we may denote the coequalizer of the pair
(if it exists) by , and think of it as the tensor product (over ) of and . The general principle is that the simplicial object is canonically augmented by , and serves as a cofibrant replacement of when the latter is regarded as a constant simplicial object. See also homotopy colimits, below.
Suppose given any adjoint pair in a 2-category , with counit . There is an associated monad , and a canonical left -action on :
and a canonical right -action on :
We may then form the canonical simplicial object . By general abstract nonsense, the tensor product is , so if we regard as a constant simplicial object , the cofibrant replacement result above specializes as follows.
The canonical simplicial map is a simplicial homotopy equivalence.
The classic application of this two-sided bar construction was given by Peter May, after work of Jon Beck. Let be the loop space functor on pointed spaces, with left adjoint the suspension functor . For each , the adjunction induces a monad which acts (on the left) on -fold loop spaces , and acts on the right on .
The canonical simplicial map is a simplicial homotopy equivalence.
So if is an -fold loop space, the two-sided bar construction provides its -fold delooping.
Continuing this train of thought: suppose given a monad equipped with a monad map (which is mated to an action ) such that is objectwise a homotopy equivalence. Then induces a homotopy equivalence
The classic example of this is where is the little -cubes operad, which acts canonically on . The advantage is that the monad is much more tractable than .
Continuing this thought still further, we have the following recognition theorem of May:
Suppose is a connected space with a -action. Then is homotopy equivalent to an -fold loop space, and indeed there is a canonical span
where each of the arrows is a homotopy equivalence.
I’m going on sheer memory here of May’s Geometry of Iterated Loop Spaces, and it’s quite possible that I’m missing hypotheses in some directions and that hypotheses could be weakened in other directions, e.g., replacing the connectedness assumption with a group completion assumption. This is in need of expert attention.
JCMcKeown : Hi, Todd (five years later); hmm. The first thing that comes to mind is that the monad-of-the-operad of little--cubes isn’t objectwise homotopy-equivalent to ; it’s a big wedge, rather: for some sensible idea of . The idea one gets from trying to read May is that: the particular operad/monad/algebraic theory doesn’t matter, so long as it has the right category of Algebras — and in this light, it may help that little--cubes is closely related to the Snaith Splitting: is a big wedge of decorated configuration spaces. But I don’t really understand all the mechanics involved. Will Keep Thinking.
Suppose that is a small category and is a functor. We may regard as a monad in the bicategory of spans in , where is the set of objects with the discrete category, and we may regard as a left module over the monad .
As always, the terminal object carries a unique right module structure. The usual colimit, , may be described as the tensor product
As a result, we have the cofibrant replacement of . The geometric realization of the simplicial space is none other than the homotopy colimit of .
Last revised on April 15, 2015 at 13:16:15. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.