Introduction Conventions Chapter 1. Composition products and operad structures 1.1. Introduction: monads and operads 1.2. Composition products and operad structures 1.3. The composition product of symmetric modules Chapter 2. Chain complexes of modules over an operad 2.1. Summary 2.2. Digression: model categories of modules over an operad 2.3. On composite symmetric modules in the differential graded framework 45 2.4. The spectral sequence of a quasi-free module 2.5. Proof of comparison theorems Chapter 3. The reduced bar construction 3.1. Summary: quasi-free operads and reduced bar constructions 57 3.2. Digression: the model category of operads 3.3. The language of trees 3.4. Trees and free operads 3.5. Trees and reduced bar constructions 3.6. Comparison of quasi-free operads: proof of theorem 3.2.1 Chapter 4. Bar constructions with coefficients 4.1. Summary 4.2. Composite symmetric modules and trees with levels 4.3. The simplicial bar construction 4.4. The differential graded bar construction 4.5. The levelization morphism 4.6. Proofs 4.7. Quasi-free resolutions of operads and bar constructions Chapter 5. Koszul duality for operads iii iv CONTENTS 5.1. Weight graded operads 5.2. Koszul operads 5.3. Koszul complexes and characterization of Koszul operads Chapter 6. Epilog: partition posets Bibliography Glossary Notation PROLOGOne can deduce from results of A. Björner that the (reduced) homology of partition posets vanishes in degree * = r − 1 (cf. [14]). Then, in [5], H. Barcelo defines an isomorphism of representations Hr−1 ( K(r), K) ≃ L(r) ∨ ⊗ sgn r , based on the Lyndon basis of the Lie operad (cf. M. Lothaire [50], C. Reutenauer [70]). This result is improved by P. Hanlon and M. Wachs in [35]. Namely, these authors define a natural morphism (which does not involve the choice of a basis of the Lie operad) from the dual of the Lie operad to the chain complex of the partition posetThis morphism fixes a representative of the homology class associated to a given element of the Lie operad. In addition, P. Hanlon and M. Wachs generalize the theorem above and give a relationship between partition posets and structures of Lie algebras with kary brackets.On the other hand, a topological proof of the theorem above, based on calculations of F. Cohen (cf. [20]), is given by G. Arone and M. Kankaanrinta in [2]. In connection with this result, we should mention that an article of G. Arone and M. Mahowald (cf. [3]) sheds light on the importance of partition posets in homotopy theory. Namely, these authors prove that the Goodwillie tower of the identity functor on topological spaces is precisely determined by partition posets. * (S(C)(V )) vanishes for general reasons while the Harrison homology H Harr * (S(C)(V )) does not (cf. M. Barr [6], D. Harrison [36], S. Whitehouse [85]). Consequently, the comparison morphism * ∈N V * equipped with a differential δ : V * → V * −1 which decreases degrees by 1. A dg-module is equivalent to a chain complex