An ${\mathsf{A}}_{\infty }$ version of the Poincaré lemma

Abstract

We prove a categorified version of the Poincaré lemma. The natural setting for our result is that of $\infty$-local systems. More precisely, we show that any smooth homotopy between maps $f$ and $g$ induces an ${\mathsf{A}}_{\infty }$-natural transformation between the corresponding pullback functors. This transformation is explicitly defined in terms of Chen's iterated integrals. In particular, we show that a homotopy equivalence induces a quasi-equivalence on the DG categories of $\infty$-local system.

24 pages, final version