Semiinfinite Cohomology of Quantum Groups

We define a new cohomology theory of associative algebras called semiinfinite cohomology in the derived categories' setting. We investigate the case of a small quantum group u, calculate semiinfinite cohomology spaces of the trivial u-module and express them in terms of local cohomology of the nilpotent cone for the corresponding semisimple Lie algebra. We discuss the connection between the semiinfinite homology of u and the conformal blocks' spaces. Received: 14 October 1996 / Accepted: 25 February 1997