The André–Quillen cohomology of commutative monoids

Abstract

We observe that Beck modules for a commutative monoid are exactly modules over a graded commutative ring associated to the monoid. Under this identification, the Quillen cohomology of commutative monoids is a special case of the André–Quillen cohomology for graded commutative rings, generalizing a result of Kurdiani and Pirashvili. To verify this we develop the necessary grading formalism. The partial cochain complex developed by Pierre Grillet for computing Quillen cohomology appears as the start of a modification of the Harrison cochain complex suggested by Michael Barr.