Modular operads and Batalin-Vilkovisky geometry

Abstract

This is a copy of the article published in IMRN (2007). I describe the noncommutative Batalin-Vilkovisky geometry associated naturally with arbitrary modular operad. The classical limit of this geometry is the noncommutative symplectic geometry of the corresponding tree-level cyclic operad. I show, in particular, that the algebras over the Feynman transform of a twisted modular operad P are in one-to-one correspondence with solutions to quantum master equation of Batalin-Vilkovisky geometry on the affine P-manifolds. As an application I give a construction of characteristic classes with values in the homology of the quotient of Deligne-Mumford moduli spaces. These classes are associated naturally with solutions to the quantum master equation on affine S[t]-manifolds, where S[t] is the twisted modular Det-operad constructed from symmetric groups, which generalizes the cyclic operad of associative algebras.