We study a new type of higher categorical structure, called weakly globular n-fold category, previously introduced by the author. We show that this structure is a model of weak n-categories by proving that it is suitably equivalent to the Tamsamani-Simpson model. We also introduce groupoidal weakly globular n-fold categories and show that they are algebraic models of n-types.
This paper introduces the notion of weakly globular double categories, a particular class of strict double categories, as a way to model weak 2-categories; it explores its use in defining a double category of fractions, and shows that the sub-2-category of groupoidal weakly globular double categories forms an algebraic model of homotopy 2-types.
We introduce a new class of higher categorical structures called weakly globular Tamsamani n-categories. These generalize the Tamsamani-Simpson model of higher categories by using the new paradigm of weak globularity to weaken higher categorical structures. We prove this new structure is suitably equivalent to a simpler one previously introduced by the author, called weakly globular n-fold categories.
We investigate the notion of involutive weak globular $ω$-categories via Jacque Penon's approach. In particular, we give the constructions of a free self-dual globular $ω$-magma, of a free strict involutive globular $ω$-category, over an $ω$-globular set, and a contraction between them. The monadic definition of involutive weak globular $ω$-categories is given as usual via algebras for the monad induced by a certain adjunction. In our case, the adjunction is obtained from the "free functor" that associates to every $ω$-globular set the above contraction. Some examples of involutive weak globul…
In earlier work, Batanin has shown that an important class of definitions of higher categories could be apprehended together simply as monads over globular sets. This allowed him to generalize the notion of polygraph, initially introduced by Street and Burroni for strict categories, to all algebraic globular higher categories. In this work, we refine this perspective and introduce new constructions and properties for this class of higher categories. In particular, we define the notion of cellular extension and its associated free construction, from which we obtain another definition of polygra…
In this article we introduce the notion of cubical $(ω,p)$-categories, for $p \in \mathbb N \cup \{ω\}$. We show that the equivalence between globular and groupoid $ω$-categories proven by Al-Agl, Brown and Steiner induces an equivalence between globular and cubical $(ω,p)$-categories for all $p \geq 0$. In particular we recover in a more explicit fashion the equivalence between globular and cubical groupoids proven by Brown and Higgins. We also define the notion of $(ω,p)$-augmented directed complexes, and show that Steiner's adjunction between augmented directed complexes and globular $ω$-ca…
We show the equivalence of two kinds of strict multiple category, namely the well known globular omega-categories, and the cubical omega-categories with connections.
We prove the compatibility between the suspension construction and the complicial nerve of $ω$-categories. As a motivating application, we produce a Quillen pair between the models of $(\infty,n)$-categories given by Rezk's complete Segal $Θ_n$-spaces and Verity's $n$-complicial sets.
We introduce a new higher categorical structure called a weakly globular n-fold category. This structure is based on iterated internal categories and on the notion of weak globularity. We identify a suitable class of pseudo-functors whose strictification produces weakly globular n-fold categories.
We give a framework for comparing on the one hand theories of n-categories that are weakly enriched operadically, and on the other hand n-categories given as algebras for a contractible globular operad. Examples of the former are the definition by Trimble and variants (Cheng-Gurski) and examples of the latter are the definition by Batanin and variants (Leinster). We will show how to take a theory of n-categories of the former kind and produce a globular operad whose algebras are the n-categories we started with. We first provide a generalisation of Trimble's original theory that allows for the…
We decribe the correspondence between normalised $ω$-operads and certain lax monoidal structures on the category of globular sets. As with ordinary monoidal categories, one has a notion of category enriched in a lax monoidal category. Within the aforementioned correspondence, we provide also an equivalence between the algebras of a given normalised $ω$-operad, and categories enriched in globular sets for the induced lax monoidal structure.
A concrete computation -- twelve slidings with sixteen tiles -- reveals that certain commutativity phenomena occur in every double semigroup. This can be seen as a sort of Eckmann-Hilton argument, but it does not use units. The result implies in particular that all cancellative double semigroups and all inverse double semigroups are commutative. Stepping up one dimension, the result is used to prove that all strictly associative two-fold monoidal categories (with weak units) are degenerate symmetric. In particular, strictly associative one-object, one-arrow 3-groupoids (with weak units) cannot…
Gluing of two pseudo functors has been studied by Deligne, Ayoub, and others in the construction of extraordinary direct image functors in étale cohomology, stable homotopy, and mixed motives of schemes. In this article, we study more generally the gluing of finitely many pseudo functors. Given pseudo functors $F_i\colon \mathcal{A}_i\to \mathcal{D}$ defined on sub-$2$-categories $\mathcal{A}_i$ of a $2$-category $\mathcal{C}$, we are concerned with the problem of finding pseudo functors $\mathcal{C}\to \mathcal{D}$ extending $F_i$ up to pseudo natural equivalences. With the help of $n$-fold c…
The aim of this article is to better understand the correspondence between $n$-cubic extensions and $3^n$-diagrams, which may be seen as non-abelian Yoneda extensions, useful in (co)homology of non-abelian algebraic structures. We study a higher-dimensional version of the coequaliser/kernel pair adjunction, which relates $n$-fold reflexive graphs with $n$-fold arrows in any exact Mal'tsev category. We first ask ourselves how this adjunction restricts to an equivalence of categories. This leads to the concept of an effective $n$-fold equivalence relation, corresponding to the $n$-fold regular e…
Operads were originally defined as V-operads, that is, enriched in a symmetric or braided monoidal category V. The symmetry or braiding in V is required in order to describe the associativity axiom the operads must obey, as well as the associativity that must be a property of the action of an operad on any of its algebras. After a review of the role of operads in loop space theory and higher categories we go over definitions of iterated monoidal categories and introduce a large family of simple examples. Then we generalize the definition of operad by defining n-fold operads and their algebras …
We construct a cofibrantly generated Quillen model structure on the category of small n-fold categories and prove that it is Quillen equivalent to the standard model structure on the category of simplicial sets. An n-fold functor is a weak equivalence if and only if the diagonal of its n-fold nerve is a weak equivalence of simplicial sets. This is an n-fold analogue to Thomason's Quillen model structure on Cat. We introduce an n-fold Grothendieck construction for multisimplicial sets, and prove that it is a homotopy inverse to the n-fold nerve. As a consequence, we completely prove that the un…
This paper is about a correspondence between monoidal structures in categories and $n$-fold loop spaces. We develop a new syntactical technique whose role is to substitute the coherence results, which were the main ingredients in the proofs that the Segal-Thomason bar construction provides an appropriate simplicial space. The results we present here enable more common categories to enter this delooping machine. For example, such is the category of finite sets with two monoidal structures brought by the disjoint union and Cartesian product.
In these notes we describe models of globular weak $(\infty,m)$-categories ($m\in\mathbb{N}$) in the Grothendieck style, i.e for each $m\in\mathbb{N}$ we define a globular coherator $Θ^{\infty}_{\mathbb{M}^m}$ whose set-models are globular weak $(\infty,m)$-categories. Then we describe the combinatorics of the small category $Θ_0$ whose objects are cubical pasting diagrams and whose morphisms are morphisms of cubical sets. This provides an accurate description of the monad, on the category of cubical sets (without degeneracies and connections), of cubical strict $\infty$-categories with connec…
We introduce a ramified covering of small categories, and we show three properties of the notion: the Riemann-Hurwitz formula holds for a ramified covering of finite categories, the zeta function of $C$ divides that of $\widetilde{C}$ for a ramified covering $\map{P}{\widetilde{C}}{C}$ of finite categories, and the classifying space of a $d$-fold ramified covering of small categories is also a $d$-fold ramified covering in the sense of Dold \cite{Dol86}.
We develop a theory of weak omega categories that will be accessible to anyone who is familiar with the language of categories and functors and who has encountered the definition of a strict 2-category. The most remarkable feature of this theory is its simplicity. We build upon an idea due to Jacques Penon by defining a weak omega category to be a span of omega magmas with certain properties. (An omega magma is a reflexive, globular set with a system of partially defined, binary composition operations which respects the globular structure.) Categories, bicategories, strict omega categories and…
The strict globular $ω$-categories formalize the execution paths of a parallel automaton and the homotopies between them. One associates to such (and any) $ω$-category $\C$ three homology theories. The first one is called the globular homology. It contains the oriented loops of $\C$. The two other ones are called the negative (resp. positive) corner homology. They contain in a certain manner the branching areas of execution paths or negative corners (resp. the merging areas of execution paths or positive corners) of $\C$. Two natural linear maps called the negative (resp. the positive) Hurewic…
One of the open problems in higher category theory is the systematic construction of the higher dimensional analogues of the Gray tensor product. In this paper we continue the work of [7] to adapt the machinery of globular operads [4] to this task. The resulting theory includes the Gray tensor product of 2-categories and the Crans tensor product [12] of Gray categories. Moreover much of the previous work on the globular approach to higher category theory is simplified by our new foundations, and we illustrate this by giving an expedited account of many aspects of Cheng's analysis [11] of Trimb…
Higher category theory is an exceedingly active area of research, whose rapid growth has been driven by its penetration into a diverse range of scientific fields. Its influence extends through key mathematical disciplines, notably homotopy theory, algebraic geometry and algebra, mathematical physics, to encompass important applications in logic, computer science and beyond. Higher categories provide a unifying language whose greatest strength lies in its ability to bridge between diverse areas and uncover novel applications. In this foundational work we introduce a new approach to higher categ…
The abelian category of tetramodules over an associative bialgebra $A$ is related with the Gerstenhaber-Schack (GS) cohomology as $Ext_\Tetra(A,A)=H_\GS(A)$. We construct a 2-fold monoidal structure on the category of tetramodules of a bialgebra. Suppose $C$ is an abelian $n$-fold monoidal category with the unit object $A$. We prove, provided some condition (*), that $Ext_C(A,A)$ is an $(n+1)$-algebra. In the case of bialgebras this condition (*) is satisfied when $A$ is a Hopf algebra. Finally, the GS cohomology of a Hopf algebra is a 3-algebra. As well, we consider this kind of questions of …
We introduce the notion of homotopically discrete n-fold category as an n-fold generalization of a groupoid with no non-trivial loops. We give two equivalent descriptions of this structure: in terms of a Segal-type model and in terms of iterated internal equivalence relations. We also show that homotopically discrete n-fold categories form an n-fold categorical model of 0-types.
We define the notion of Cartesian 2-fibrations, and prove a weak analogue of straightening. Using Barwick's notion of operator categories and the notion of a Cartesian 2-fibration, we extend the notion of $\infty$-operads to the $(\infty,2)$-categorical context. These $(\infty,2)$-operads are used to define and study 2-rings in the $\infty$-categorical context.
This paper proves coherence results for categories with a natural transformation called \emph{intermutation} made of arrows from $(A\wedge B)\vee(C\wedge D)$ to ${(A\vee C)\wedge(B\vee D)}$, for $\wedge$ and $\vee$ being two biendofunctors. Intermutation occurs in iterated, or $n$-fold, monoidal categories, which were introduced in connection with $n$-fold loop spaces, and for which a related, but different, coherence result was obtained previously by Balteanu, Fiedorowicz, Schw\" anzl and Vogt. The results of the present paper strengthen up to a point this previous result, and show that two-f…
We show that for any type in Martin-Löf Intensional Type Theory, the terms of that type and its higher identity types form a weak omega-category in the sense of Leinster. Precisely, we construct a contractible globular operad of definable composition laws, and give an action of this operad on the terms of any type and its identity types.
The goal of this paper is to address the problem of building a path object for the category of Grothendieck (weak) $\infty$-groupoids. This is the missing piece for a proof of Grothendieck's homotopy hypothesis. We show how to endow the putative underlying globular set with a system of composition, a system of identities and a system of inverses, together with an approximation of the interpretation of any map for a theory of $\infty$-categories. Finally, we introduce a coglobular $\infty$-groupoid representing modifications of $\infty$-groupoids, and prove some basic properties it satisfies, t…
We show how to "interleave" the monad for operads and the monad for contractions on the category \coll of collections, to construct the monad for the operads-with-contraction of Leinster. We first decompose the adjunction for operads and the adjunction for contractions into a chain of adjunctions each of which acts on only one dimension of the underlying globular sets at a time. We then exhibit mutual stability conditions that enable us to alternate the dimension-by-dimension free functors. Hence we give an explicit construction of a left adjoint for the forgetful functor $\owc \lra \coll$, fr…
In universal algebra, it is well known that varieties admitting a majority term admit several Mal'tsev-type characterizations. The main aim of this paper is to establish categorical counterparts of some of these characterizations for regular categories. We prove a categorical version of Bergman's Double-projection Theorem: a regular category is a majority category if and only if every subobject $S$ of a finite product $A_1 \times A_2 \times \cdots \times A_n$ is uniquely determined by its two-fold projections. We also establish a categorical counterpart of the Pairwise Chinese Remainder Theore…
The 2-category V-Cat of categories enriched over a braided monoidal category V is not itself braided in any way that is based upon the braiding of V. The exception is the case in which V is symmetric, which leads to V-Cat being symmetric as well. This paper describes how these facts are related to a categorical analogue of topological delooping. It seems that the analogy of loop spaces is a good guide for how to define the concept of enrichment over various types of monoidal objects, including k-fold monoidal categories and their higher dimensional counterparts. The main result is that for V a…
This document is centered around a main idea: simplicial categories, by which we mean simplicial objects in the category of categories, can be treated as a two-fold categorical structure and their double category theory is homotopically meaningful. The most well-known two-fold structures are double categories, typically used to organize bimodules in various contexts. However there is no double category of spaces even though notions of bimodule are conceivable. We first remedy this defect of double category theory by constructing a meaningful simplicial category of spaces. Then we develop the a…
We introduce a dependent type theory whose models are weak ω-categories, generalizing Brunerie's definition of ω-groupoids. Our type theory is based on the definition of ω-categories given by Maltsiniotis, himself inspired by Grothendieck's approach to the definition of ω-groupoids. In this setup, ω-categories are defined as presheaves preserving globular colimits over a certain category, called a coherator. The coherator encodes all operations required to be present in an ω-category: both the compositions of pasting schemes as well as their coherences. Our main contribution is to provide a ca…
We investigate algebraic and compositional properties of abstract multiway rewriting systems, which are archetypical structures underlying the formalism of the Wolfram model. We demonstrate the existence of higher homotopies in this class of rewriting systems, where homotopical maps are induced by the inclusion of appropriate rewriting rules taken from an abstract rulial space of all possible such rules. Furthermore, we show that a multiway rewriting system with homotopies up to order $n$ may naturally be formalized as an $n$-fold category, such that (upon inclusion of appropriate inverse morp…
Joyal and Street note in their paper on braided monoidal categories [Braided tensor categories, Advances in Math. 102(1993) 20-78] that the 2-category V-Cat of categories enriched over a braided monoidal category V is not itself braided in any way that is based upon the braiding of V. The exception that they mention is the case in which V is symmetric, which leads to V-Cat being symmetric as well. The symmetry in V-Cat is based upon the symmetry of V. The motivation behind this paper is in part to describe how these facts relating V and V-Cat are in turn related to a categorical analogue of to…
First-order logic with dependent sorts, such as Makkai's first-order logic with dependent sorts (FOLDS), or Aczel's and Belo's dependently typed (intuitionistic) first-order logic (DFOL), may be regarded as logic enriched dependent type theories. Categories with families (cwfs) is an established semantical structure for dependent type theories, such as Martin-Löf type theory. We introduce in this article a notion of hyperdoctrine over a cwf, and show how FOLDS and DFOL fit in this semantical framework. A soundness and completeness theorem is proved for DFOL. The semantics is functorial in the …
Given a 2-category $\twocat{K}$ admitting a calculus of bimodules, and a 2-monad T on it compatible with such calculus, we construct a 2-category $\twocat{L}$ with a 2-monad S on it such that: (1)S has the adjoint-pseudo-algebra property. (2)The 2-categories of pseudo-algebras of S and T are equivalent. Thus, coherent structures (pseudo-T-algebras) are transformed into universally characterised ones (adjoint-pseudo-S-algebras). The 2-category $\twocat{L}$ consists of lax algebras for the pseudo-monad induced by T on the bicategory of bimodules of $\twocat{K}$. We give an intrinsic characterisa…
We axiomatise the theory of $(\infty,n)$-categories. We prove that the space of theories of $(\infty,n)$-categories is a $B(\mathbb{Z}/2)^n$. We prove that Rezk's complete Segal $Θ_n$-spaces, Simpson and Tamsamani's Segal $n$-categories, the first author's $n$-fold complete Segal spaces, Kan and the first author's $n$-relative categories, and complete Segal space objects in any model of $(\infty,n-1)$-categories all satisfy our axioms. Consequently, these theories are all equivalent in a manner that is unique up to the action of $(\mathbb{Z}/2)^n$.
By theorems of Carlson and Renaudin, the theory of $(\infty,1)$-categories embeds in that of prederivators. The purpose of this paper is to give a two-fold answer to the inverse problem: understanding which prederivators model $(\infty,1)$-categories, either strictly or in a homotopical sense. First, we characterize which prederivators arise on the nose as prederivators associated to quasicategories. Next, we put a model structure on the category of prederivators and strict natural transformations, and prove a Quillen equivalence with the Joyal model structure for quasicategories.
We prove a version of the Deligne conjecture for $n$-fold monoidal abelian categories $A$ over a field $k$ of characteristic 0, assuming some compatibility and non-degeneracy conditions for $A$. The output of our construction is a weak Leinster $(n,1)$-algebra over $k$, a relaxed version of the concept of Leinster $n$-algebra in $Alg(k)$. The difference between the Leinster original definition and our relaxed one is apparent when $n>1$, for $n=1$ both concepts coincide. We believe that there exists a functor from weak Leinster $(n,1)$-algebras over $k$ to $C(E_{n+1},k)$-algebras, well-defined …
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. In Part 1 we introduce a new theory of operadic categories and their operads. This theory is, in our opinion, of an independent value. In Part 2 we use this new theory together with our previous results to prove that multiplicative 1-operads in duoidal categories admit, under some mild conditions on the underlying monoidal category, natural actions of contractible 2-operads. The result of D. Tamarkin on the structure of dg-categories, as well as the classical Deligne conjecture for the Hochschild cohomology, is a particular case of this statement.
For each n\geq 1 we introduce two new Segal-type models of n-types of topological spaces: weakly globular n-fold groupoids, and a lax version of these. We show that any n-type can be represented up to homotopy by such models via an explicit algebraic fundamental n-fold groupoid functor. We compare these models to Tamsamani's weak n-groupoids, and extract from them a model for (k-1)connected n-types
The Adams spectral sequence is available in any triangulated category equipped with a projective or injective class. Higher Toda brackets can also be defined in a triangulated category, as observed by B. Shipley based on J. Cohen's approach for spectra. We provide a family of definitions of higher Toda brackets, show that they are equivalent to Shipley's, and show that they are self-dual. Our main result is that the Adams differential $d_r$ in any Adams spectral sequence can be expressed as an $(r+1)$-fold Toda bracket and as an $r^{\text{th}}$ order cohomology operation. We also show how the …