Superpotentials and higher order derivations

We consider algebras defined from quivers with relations that are kth order derivations of a superpotential, generalizing results of Dubois-Violette to the quiver case. We give a construction compatible with Morita equivalence, and show that many important algebras arise in this way, including McKay correspondence algebras for GL(n) for all n, and four-dimensional Sklyanin algebras. More generally, we show that any N-Koszul, (twisted) Calabi-Yau algebra must have a (twisted) superpotential, and construct its minimal resolution in terms of derivations of the (twisted) superpotential. This yields an equivalence between N-Koszul twisted Calabi-Yau algebras A and algebras defined by a superpotential omega such that an associated complex is a bimodule resolution of A. Finally, we apply these results to give a description of the moduli space of four-dimensional Sklyanin algebras using the Weil representation of an extension of SL(2)(Z/4). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.