Yang-Baxter deformations of quandles and racks

Abstract

Given a rack Q and a ring A, one can construct a Yang-Baxter operator c_Q: V tensor V --> V tensor V on the free A-module V = AQ by setting c_Q(x tensor y) = y tensor x^y for all x,y in Q. In answer to a question initiated by D.N. Yetter and P.J. Freyd, this article classifies formal deformations of c_Q in the space of Yang-Baxter operators. For the trivial rack, where x^y = x for all x,y, one has, of course, the classical setting of r-matrices and quantum groups. In the general case we introduce and calculate the cohomology theory that classifies infinitesimal deformations of c_Q. In many cases this allows us to conclude that c_Q is rigid. In the remaining cases, where infinitesimal deformations are possible, we show that higher-order obstructions are the same as in the quantum case.