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$S_0$ and $S_1$ are said to be homotopy equivalent if there is a Maurer-Cartan element $S(t,dt)$ in the dgla $g[t,dt]$ such that $S(0)=S_0$ and $S(1)=S_1$. It is not completely clear at first that this is an equivalence relation, but actually it is. Indeed much more is true and the homotopy equivalence just described is just the tip of the iceeberg. To see this, rewrite $g[t,dt]$ as $g\otimes\Omega^1$, where $\Omega^1$ is the differential graded commutative algebra of polynomial differential forms on the (algebraic) 1-simplex. Then one sees this is the beginning of a simplicial dgla $g\otimes\Omega^\bullet$, and taking Maurer-Cartan elements produces a simplicial set $MC(g\otimes \Omega^\bullet)$. This simplicial set turns out to be a Kan complex and the fact that the homotopy relation between solution of the Maurer-Cartan equation on $g$ is an equivalence relation is precisely the 'horn filling' property of this Kan complex.

A good reference is Getzler's [math/0404003] Lie theory for nilpotent L-infinity algebras

(in formal deformation theory one produces a nilpotent dgla out of an arbitrary one by tensoring it with the maximal ideal $m_A$ of an a local Artin algebra $A$)

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$S_0$ and $S_1$ are said to be homotopy equivalent if there is a Maurer-Cartan element $S(t,dt)$ in the dgla $g[t,dt]$ such that $S(0)=S_0$ and $S(1)=S_1$. It is not completely clear at first that this is an equivalence relation, but actually it is. Indeed much more is true and the homotopy equivalence just described is just the tip of the iceeberg. To see this, rewrite $g[t,dt]$ as $g\otimes\Omega^1$, where $\Omega^1$ is the differential graded commutative algebra of polynomial differential forms on the (algebraic) 1-simplex. Then one sees this is the beginning of a simplicial dgla $g\otimes\Omega^\bullet$, and taking Maurer-Cartan elements produces a simplicial set $MC(g\otimes \Omega^\bullet)$. This simplicial set turns out to be a Kan complex and the fact that the homotopy relation between solution of the Maurer-Cartan equation on $g$ is an equivalence relation is precisely the 'horn filling' property of this Kan complex.

A good reference is Getzler's [math/0404003] Lie theory for nilpotent L-infinity algebras

(in formal deformation theory one produces a nilpotent dgla out of an arbitrary one by tensoring it with the maximal ideal $m_A$ of an Artin algebra )$A$)

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$S_0$ and $S_1$ are said to be homotopy equivalent if there is a Maurer-Cartan element $S(t,dt)$ in the dgla $g[t,dt]$ such that $S(0)=S_0$ and $S(1)=S_1$. It is not completely clear at first that this is an equivalence relation, but actually it is. Indeed much more is true and the homotopy equivalence just described is just the tip of the iceeberg. To see this, rewrite $g[t,dt]$ as $g\otimes\Omega^1$, where $\Omega^1$ is the differential graded commutative algebra of polynomial differential forms on the (algebraic) 1-simplex. Then one sees this is the beginning of a simplicial dgla $g\otimes\Omega^\bullet$, and taking Maurer-Cartan elements produces a simplicial set $MC(g\otimes \Omega^\bullet)$. This simplicial set turns out to be a Kan complex and the fact that the homotopy relation between solution of the Maurer-Cartan equation on $g$ is an equivalence relation is precisely the 'horn filling' property of this Kan complex.

A good reference is Getzler's [math/0404003] Lie theory for nilpotent L-infinity algebras

(in formal deformation theory one produces a nilpotent dgla out of an arbitrary one by tensoring it with an Artin algebra)