A-infinity Algebras Derived from Associative Algebras with a Non-Derivation Differential

Abstract

Given an associative graded algebra equipped with a degree +1 differential we define an A-infinity structure that measures the failure of the differential to be a derivation. This can be seen as a non-commutative analog of generalized BV-algebras. In that spirit we introduce a notion of associative order for the differential and prove that it satisfies properties similar to the commutative case. In particular when it has associative order 2 the new product is a strictly associative product of degree +1 and there is a compatibility between the products, similar to ordinary BV-algebras. We consider several examples of structures obtained in this way. In particular we obtain an A-infinity structure on the bar complex of an A-infinity algebra that is strictly associative if the original algebra is strictly associative. We also introduce strictly associative degree +1 products for any degree +1 action on a graded algebra. Moreover, an A-infinity structure is constructed on the Hochschild cocomplex of an associative algebra with a non-degenerate inner product by using Connes' B-operator.