\author{Dave Benson}
\author{Radha Kessar}
\author{Markus Linckelmann}
\title{On the BV structure of the Hochschild cohomology of 
finite group algebras}

\begin{document}

\begin{abstract}
We give a simple algebraic recipe for calculating the components of
the BV operator $\Delta$ on the Hochschild cohomology of a finite group
algebra with respect to the centraliser decomposition. 
We use this to investigate the properties of $\Delta$
and to make some computations for some particular finite groups.
\end{abstract}