Koszul duality of operads and homology of partition posets

Abstract

We consider partitions of a set with $r$ elements ordered by refinement. We consider the simplicial complex $\bar{K}(r)$ formed by chains of partitions which starts at the smallest element and ends at the largest element of the partition poset. A classical theorem asserts that $\bar{K}(r)$ is equivalent to a wedge of $r-1$-dimensional spheres. In addition, the poset of partitions is equipped with a natural action of the symmetric group in $r$ letters. Consequently, the associated homology modules are representations of the symmetric groups. One observes that the $r-1$th homology modules of $\bar{K}(r)$, where $r = 1,2,...$, are dual to the Lie representation of the symmetric groups. In this article, we would like to point out that this theorem occurs a by-product of the theory of \emph{Koszul operads}. For that purpose, we improve results of V. Ginzburg and M. Kapranov in several directions. More particularly, we extend the Koszul duality of operads to operads defined over a field of positive characteristic (or over a ring). In addition, we obtain more conceptual proofs of theorems of V. Ginzburg and M. Kapranov.