Graph cohomology classes in the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism

Hamilton, Alastair and Lazarev, Andrey (2009) Graph cohomology classes in the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism. Journal of Geometry and Physics, 59 (5). pp. 555-575. ISSN 0393-0440

Abstract

This paper gives a conceptual formulation of Kontsevich’s ‘dual construction’ producing graph cohomology classes from a differential graded Frobenius algebra with an odd scalar product. Our construction–whilst equivalent to the original one–is combinatorics-free and is based on the Batalin–Vilkovisky formalism, from which its gauge independence is immediate.