$A_\infty$ Algebras and the Cohomology of Moduli Spaces

Abstract

We introduce the notion of cyclic cohomology of an A-infinity algebra and show that the deformations of an A-infinity algebra which preserve an invariant inner product are classified by this cohomology. We use this result to construct some cycles on the moduli space of algebraic curves. The paper also contains a review of some well known notions and results about Hochschild and cyclic cohomology of associative algebras, A-infinity algebras, and deformation theory of algebras, and includes a discussion of the homology of the graph complex of metric ribbon graphs which is associated to the moduli space of Riemann surfaces with marked points.