We give a pedagogical survey of those aspects of the abstract representation theory of quantum groups which are related to the Tannaka-Krein reconstruction problem. We show that every concrete semisimple tensor *-category with conjugates is equivalent to the category of finite dimensional non-degenerate *-representations of a discrete algebraic quantum group. Working in the self-dual framework of algebraic quantum groups, we then relate this to earlier results of S. L. Woronowicz and S. Yamagami. We establish the relation between braidings and R-matrices in this context. Our approach emphasizes the role of the natural transformations of the embedding functor. Thanks to the semisimplicity of our categories and the emphasis on representations rather than corepresentations, our proof is more direct and conceptual than previous reconstructions. As a special case, we reprove the classical Tannaka-Krein result for compact groups. It is only here that analytic aspects enter, otherwise we proceed in a purely algebraic way. In particular, the existence of a Haar functional is reduced to a well known general result concerning discrete multiplier Hopf *-algebras.
Noncommutative near-group fusion categories were completely classified in the previous work of the first named author by using an operator algebraic method (and hence under the assumption of unitarity), and they were shown to be group theoretical though the corresponding pointed categories were not identified. In this note we give a purely algebraic construction of the noncommutative near-group fusion categories starting from pointed categories categorically Morita equivalent to them.
We introduce a variant on the graphical calculus of Cockett and Seely for monoidal functors and illustrate it with a discussion of Tannaka reconstruction, some of which is known and some of which is new. The new portion is: given a separable Frobenius functor F: A --> B from a monoidal category A to a suitably complete or cocomplete braided autonomous category B, the usual formula for Tannaka reconstruction gives a weak bialgebra in B; if, moreover, A is autonomous, this weak bialgebra is in fact a weak Hopf algebra.
Bimonoidal categories are categorical analogues of rings without additive inverses. They have been actively studied in category theory, homotopy theory, and algebraic $K$-theory since around 1970. There is an abundance of new applications and questions of bimonoidal categories in mathematics and other sciences. This work provides a unified treatment of bimonoidal and higher ring-like categories, their connection with algebraic $K$-theory and homotopy theory, and applications to quantum groups and topological quantum computation. With ample background material, extensive coverage, detailed pres…
Modular categories are important algebraic structures in a variety of subjects in mathematics and physics. We provide an explicit, motivated and elementary definition of a modular category over a field of characteristic 0 as an equivalence class of solutions to a set of polynomial equations. We conclude that within each class of solutions, there is one which consists entirely of algebraic numbers. These algebraic solutions make it possible to discuss defining algebraic number fields of modular categories and their Galois twists. One motivation for such a definition is an arithmetic theory of m…
We show that every modular category is equivalent as an additive ribbon category to the category of finite-dimensional comodules of a Weak Hopf Algebra. This Weak Hopf Algebra is finite-dimensional, split cosemisimple, weakly cofactorizable, coribbon and has trivially intersecting base algebras. In order to arrive at this characterization of modular categories, we develop a generalization of Tannaka-Krein reconstruction to the long version of the canonical forgetful functor which is lax and oplax monoidal, but not in general strong monoidal, thereby avoiding all the difficulties related to non…
From a unifying lemma concerning fusion rings, we prove a collection of number-theoretic results about fusion, braided, and modular tensor categories. First, we prove that every fusion ring has a dimensional grading by an elementary abelian 2-group. As a result, we bound the order of the multiplicative central charge of arbitrary modular tensor categories. We also introduce Galois-invariant subgroups of the Witt group of nondegenerately braided fusion categories corresponding to algebraic number fields generated by Frobenius-Perron dimensions. Lastly, we provide a complete description of the f…
We give a formula for the relative Deligne tensor product of two indecomposable finite semisimple module categories over a pointed braided fusion category over an algebraically closed field.
All rational semisimple braided tensor categories are representation categories of weak quasi Hopf algebras. To proof this result we construct for any given category of this kind a weak quasi tensor functor to the category of finite dimensional vector spaces. This allows to reconstruct a weak quasi Hopf algebra with the given category as its representation category.
Let G be a unipotent algebraic group over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p > 0 and let l be a prime different from p. Let e be a minimal idempotent in D_G(G), the braided monoidal category of G-equivariant (under conjugation action) \bar{Q_l}-complexes on G. We can associate to G and e a modular category M_{G,e}. In this article, we prove that the modular categories that arise in this way from unipotent groups are precisely those in the class C_p^{\pm}.
We describe the algebraic ingredients of a proof of the conjecture of Frenkel and Ip that the category of positive representations $\mathcal{P}_λ$ of the quantum group $U_q(\mathfrak{sl}_{n+1})$ is closed under tensor products. Our results generalize those of Ponsot and Teschner in the rank 1 case of $U_q(\mathfrak{sl}_2)$. In higher rank, many nontrivial features appear, the most important of these being a surprising connection to the quantum integrability of the open Coxeter-Toda lattice. We show that the closure under tensor products follows from the orthogonality and completeness of the To…
We investigate the relationship between the algebra of tensor categories and the topology of framed 3-manifolds. On the one hand, tensor categories with certain algebraic properties determine topological invariants. We prove that fusion categories of nonzero global dimension are 3-dualizable, and therefore provide 3-dimensional 3-framed local field theories. We also show that all finite tensor categories are 2-dualizable, and yield categorified 2-dimensional 3-framed local field theories. On the other hand, topological properties of 3-framed manifolds determine algebraic equations among functo…
We formulate the unitary rational orbifold conformal field theories in the algebraic quantum field theory framework. Under general conditions, we show that the orbifold of a given unitary rational conformal field theories generates a unitary modular category. Many new unitary modular categories are obtained. We also show that the irreducible representations of orbifolds of rank one lattice vertex operator algebras give rise to unitary modular categories and determine the corresponding modular matrices, which has been conjectured for some time.
