The diagonal of the Stasheff polytope

Abstract

We construct an A-infinity structure on the tensor product of two A-infinity algebras by using the simplicial decomposition of the Stasheff polytope. The key point is the construction of an operad AA-infinity based on the simplicial Stasheff polytope. The operad AA-infinity admits a coassociative diagonal and the operad A-infinity is a retract by deformation of it. We compare these constructions with analogous constructions due to Saneblidze-Umble and Markl-Shnider based on the Boardman-Vogt cubical decomposition of the Stasheff polytope.