Topological invariants of piecewise hereditary algebras

We investigate the Galois coverings of piecewise algebras and more particularly their behaviour under derived equivalences. Under a technical assumption which is satisfied if the algebra is derived equivalent to a hereditary algebra, we prove that there exists a universal Galois covering whose group of automorphisms is free and depends only on the derived category of the algebra. As a corollary, we prove that the algebra is simply connected if and only if its first Hochschild cohomology vanishes.Comment: The hypotheses of the main theorem were modified: The next now deals mainly with piecewise hereditary algebras which are derived equivalent to a hereditary algebra (instead of all piecewise hereditary algebras in the previous version

On the Morita Reduced Versions of Skew Group Algebras of Path Algebras

Let R be the skew group algebra of a finite group acting on the path algebra of a quiver. This article develops both theoretical and practical methods to do computations in the Morita reduced algebra associated to R. Reiten and Riedtmann proved that there exists an idempotent e of R such that the algebra eRe is both Morita equivalent to R and isomorphic to the path algebra of some quiver which was described by Demonet. This article gives explicit formulas for the decomposition of any element of eRe as a linear combination of paths in the quiver described by Demonet. This is done by expressing appropriate compositions and pairings in a suitable monoidal category which takes into account the representation theory of the finite group

Smash Products of Calabi-Yau Algebras by Hopf Algebras

Let H be a Hopf algebra and A be an H-module algebra. This article investigates when the smash product A#H is (skew) Calabi-Yau, has Van den Bergh duality or is Artin-Schelter regular or Gorenstein. In particular, if A and H are skew Calabi-Yau, then so is A#H and its Nakayama automorphism is expressed using the ones of A and H. This is based on a description of the inverse dualising complex of A#H when A is a homologically smooth dg algebra and H is homologically smooth and with invertible antipode. This description is also used to explain the compatibility of standard constructions of Calabi-Yau dg algebras with taking smash products.Comment: Minor corrections and changes to reflect the published articl

Degrees of irreducible morphisms and finite-representation type

We study the degree of irreducible morphisms in any Auslander-Reiten component of a finite dimensional algebra over an algebraically closed field. We give a characterization for an irreducible morphism to have finite left (or right) degree. This is used to prove our main theorem: An algebra is of finite representation type if and only if for every indecomposable projective the inclusion of the radical in the projective has finite right degree, which is equivalent to require that for every indecomposable injective the epimorphism from the injective to its quotient by its socle has finite left degree. We also apply the techniques that we develop: We study when the non-zero composite of a path of $n$ irreducible morphisms between indecomposable modules lies in the $n+1$-th power of the radical; and we study the same problem for sums of such paths when they are sectional, thus proving a generalisation of a pioneer result of Igusa and Todorov on the composite of a sectional path.Comment: 20 page