We introduce a notion of $n$-Lie Rinehart algebras as a generalization of Lie Rinehart algebras to $n$-ary case. This notion is also an algebraic analogue of $n$-Lie algebroids. We develop representation theory and describe a cohomology complex of $n$-Lie Rinehart algebras. Furthermore, we investigate extension theory of $n$-Lie Rinehart algebras by means of $2$-cocycles. Finally, we introduce crossed modules of $n$-Lie Rinehart algebras to gain a better understanding of their third dimensional cohomology groups.
After recalling the notion of Lie algebroid, we construct these structures associated with contact forms or systems. We are then interested in particular classes of Lie Rinehart algebras.
In this paper, we define a class of 3-algebras which are called 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras. A 3-Lie-Rinehart algebra is a triple $(L, A, rho)$, where $A$ is a commutative associative algebra, $L$ is an $A$-module, $(A, rho)$ is a 3-Lie algebra $L$-module and $rho(L, L)subseteq Der(A)$. We discuss the basic structures, actions and crossed modules of 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras and construct 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras from given algebras, we also study the derivations from 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras to 3-Lie $A$-algebras. From the study, we see that there is much difference between 3-Lie algebras and 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras.
After endowing with a 3-Lie-Rinehart structure on Hom 3-Lie algebras, we obtain a class of special Hom 3-Lie algebras, which have close relationships with representations of commutative associative algebras. We provide a special class of Hom 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras, called split regular Hom 3-Lie-Rinehart algebras, and we then characterize their structures by means of root systems and weight systems associated to a splitting Cartan subalgebra.
In this paper, first we give the cohomologies of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra and introduce the notion of a derivation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra. We show that a derivation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra is a $1$-cocycle with the coefficient in the adjoint representation. We also give the formula of the dual representation of a representation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra. Then, we study $(n-1)$-order deformation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra. We introduce the notion of a Hom-Nijenhuis operator, which could generate a trivial $(n-1)$-order deformation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra. Finally, we introduce the notion of a generalized derivation of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra, by which we can construct a new $n$-Hom-Lie algebra, which is called the generalized derivation extension of an $n$-Hom-Lie algebra.
We introduce a notion of left-symmetric Rinehart algebras, which is a generalization of a left-symmetric algebras. The left multiplication gives rise to a representation of the corresponding sub-adjacent Lie-Rinehart algebra. We construct left-symmetric Rinehart algebra from $mathcal O$-operators on Lie-Rinehart algebra. We extensively investigate representations of a left-symmetric Rinehart algebras. Moreover, we study deformations of left-symmetric Rinehart algebras, which is controlled by the second cohomology class in the deformation cohomology. We also give the relationships between $mathcal O$-operators and Nijenhuis operators on left-symmetric Rinehart algebras.