The goal of these talks was to explain how cohomology and other tools of algebraic topology are seen through the lens of n-category theory. Special topics include nonabelian cohomology, Postnikov towers, the theory of "n-stuff", and n-categories for n = -1 and -2. The talks were very informal, and so are these notes. A lengthy appendix clarifies certain puzzles and ventures into deeper waters such as higher topos theory. For readers who want more details, we include an annotated bibliography.
We construct an iterative method for factorising small strict n-categories into a unique (up to isomorphism) collection of small 1- categories. Following this we develop the theory to include a large class of $\infty$-categories. We use this factorisation to define cohomology theory for higher categories. Finally, we discuss some concrete examples of factorisations of low dimensional categories.
In this paper we study the structure of a class of categories having two operations which satisfy axioms analoguos to that of rings. Such categories are called "Ann - categories". We obtain the classification theorems for regular Ann - categories and Ann - functors by using Mac Lane - Shukla cohomology of rings. These results give new interpretations of the cohomology groups and of the rings
This text is an updated version of material used for a course at Université de Nantes, part of `Functor homology and applications', April 23-27, 2012. The proof by Touzé of my conjecture on cohomological finite generation (CFG) has been one of the successes of functor homology. We will not treat the original proof in any detail. Instead we will focus on a formality conjecture of Chałupnik that leads to second generation proof of the existence of the universal classes of Touzé.
Recently, symmetric categorical groups are used for the study of the Brauer groups of symmetric monoidal categories. As a part of these efforts, some algebraic structures of the 2-category of symmetric categorical groups $\mathrm{SCG}$ are being investigated. In this paper, we consider a 2-categorical analogue of an abelian category, in such a way that it contains $\mathrm{SCG}$ as an example. As a main theorem, we construct a long cohomology 2-exact sequence from any extension of complexes in such a 2-category. Our axiomatic and self-dual definition will enable us to simplify the proofs, by a…
It was observed recently that for a fixed finite group $G$, the set of all Drinfeld centres of $G$ twisted by 3-cocycles form a group, the so-called group of modular extensions (of the representation category of $G$), which is isomorphic to the third cohomology group of $G$. We show that for an abelian $G$, pointed twisted Drinfeld centres of $G$ form a subgroup of the group of modular extensions. We identify this subgroup with a group of quadratic extensions containing $G$ as a Lagrangian subgroup, the so-called group of Lagrangian extensions of $G$. We compute the group of Lagrangian extensi…
Let $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$ be an extriangulated category with a proper class $ξ$ of $\mathbb{E}$-triangles. In this paper, we first introduce the $ξ$-Gorenstein cohomology in terms of $ξ$-$\mathcal{G}$projective resolutions and $ξ$-$\mathcal{G}$injective coresolutions, respectively, and then we get the balance of $ξ$-Gorenstein cohomology. Moreover, we study the interplay among $ξ$-cohomology, $ξ$-Gorenstein cohomology and $ξ$-complete cohomology, and obtain the Avramov-Martsinkovsky type exact sequences in this setting.
We replace a ring with a small $\mathbb C$-linear category $\mathcal{C}$, seen as a ring with several objects in the sense of Mitchell. We introduce Fredholm modules over this category and construct a Chern character taking values in the cyclic cohomology of $\mathcal C$. We show that this categorified Chern character is homotopy invariant and is well-behaved with respect to the periodicity operator in cyclic cohomology. For this, we also obtain a description of cocycles and coboundaries in the cyclic cohomology of $\mathcal C$ (and more generally, in the Hopf-cyclic cohomology of a Hopf modul…
The deformation cohomology of a tensor category controls deformations of its monoidal structure. Here we describe the deformation cohomology of tensor categories generated by one object (the so-called Schur-Weyl categories). Using this description we compute the deformation cohomology of free symmetric tensor categories generated by one object with an algebra of endomorphism free of zero-divisors. We compare the answers with the exterior invariants of the general linear Lie algebra.
This paper continues the development of the deformation theory of abelian categories introduced in a previous paper by the authors. We show first that the deformation theory of abelian categories is controlled by an obstruction theory in terms of a suitable notion of Hochschild cohomology for abelian categories. We then show that this Hochschild cohomology coincides with the one defined by Gerstenhaber, Schack and Swan in the case of module categories over diagrams and schemes and also with the Hochschild cohomology for exact categories introduced recently by Keller. In addition we show in com…
We establish a Galois-theoretic interpretation of cohomology in semi-abelian categories: cohomology with trivial coefficients classifies central extensions, also in arbitrarily high degrees. This allows us to obtain a duality, in a certain sense, between "internal" homology and "external" cohomology in semi-abelian categories. These results depend on a geometric viewpoint of the concept of a higher central extension, as well as the algebraic one in terms of commutators.
These are expanded lecture notes from lectures given at the Workshop on higher structures at MATRIX Melbourne. These notes give an introduction to Feynman categories and their applications. Feynman categories give a universal categorical way to encode operations and relations. This includes the aspects of operad--like theories such as PROPs, modular operads, twisted (modular) operads, properads, hyperoperads and their colored versions. There is more depth to the general theory as it applies as well to algebras over operads and an abundance of other related structures, such as crossed simplicia…
In this paper we show that the Baues-Wirsching complex used to define cohomology of categories is a 2-functor from a certain 2-category of natural systems of abelian groups to the 2-category of chain complexes, chain homomorphism and relative homotopy classes of chain homotopies. As a consequence we derive (co)localization theorems for this cohomology.
We define a comonad cohomology of track categories and we show it is linked by a long exact sequence to its Dwyer-Kan-Smith cohomology . Under mild hypothesis on the track category, we show that its comonad cohomology coincides, up to dimension shift, with its Dwyer-Kan-Smith cohomology, therefore obtaining an algebraic formulation of the latter. We also specialize our results to the case where the track category is a $2$-groupoid.
In this paper, we have studied the axiomatics of {\it Ann-categories} and {\it categorical rings.} These are the categories with distributivity constraints whose axiomatics are similar with those of ring structures. The main result we have achieved is proving the independence of the axiomatics of Ann-category definition. And then we have proved that after adding an axiom into the definition of categorical rings, we obtain the new axiomatics which is equivalent to the one of Ann-categories. In [PJ], authors modified the definition of Ann-categories to be the one of {\it categorical rings,} wher…
We define the Hochschild complex and cohomology of a ring object in a monoidal category enriched over abelian groups. We interpret the cohomology groups and prove that the cohomology ring is graded-commutative.
Let $\mathcal{A}$ be a locally noetherian Grothendieck category. In this paper we define and study the section functor on $\mathcal{A}$ with respect to an open subset of ASpec$\mathcal{A}$. Next we define and study local cohomology theory in $\mathcal{A}$ in terms of the section functors. Finally we study abstract local cohomology functor on the derived category $\mathcal{D}^+(\mathcal{A})$.
The notion of Ann-categories is a categorification of the ring structure. Regular Ann-categories were classified by Shukla algebraic cohomology. In this article, we state and prove the precise theorem on classification for the general case due to Mac Lane cohomology for rings. And an application for classification problem of ring extensions is also introduced.
We introduce cohomology and homology theories for small categories with general coefficient systems from simplex categories first studied by Thomason. These theories generalize at once Baues-Wirsching cohomology and homology and other more classical theories. We analyze naturality and functoriality properties of these theories and construct associated spectral sequences for functors between small categories.
We construct spectral sequences in the framework of Baues-Wirsching cohomology and homology for functors between small categories and analyze particular cases including Grothendieck fibrations. We also give applications to more classical cohomology and homology theories including Hochschild-Mitchell cohomology and those studied before by Watts, Roos, Quillen and others.
We develop some new aspects of cohomology in the context of semi-abelian categories: we establish a Hochschild-Serre 5-term exact sequence extending the classical one for groups and Lie algebras; we prove that an object is perfect if and only if it admits a universal central extension; we show how the second Barr-Beck cohomology group classifies isomorphism classes of central extensions; we prove a universal coefficient theorem to explain the relationship with homology.
In these notes we develop some basic theory of idempotents in monoidal categories. We introduce and study the notion of a pair of complementary idempotents in a triangulated monoidal category, as well as more general idempotent decompositions of identity. If $\mathbf{E}$ is a categorical idempotent then $\operatorname{End}(\mathbf{E})$ is a graded commutative algebra. The same is true of $\operatorname{Hom}(\mathbf{E},\mathbf{E}^c[1])$ under certain circumstances, where $\mathbf{E}^c$ is the complement. These generalize the notions of cohomology and Tate cohomology of a finite dimensional Hopf…
Let $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$ be an extriangulated category with a proper class $ξ$ of $\mathbb{E}$-triangles. In this paper, we study the balance of complete cohomology in $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$, which is motivated by a result of Nucinkis that complete cohomology of modules is not balanced in the way the absolute cohomology Ext is balanced. As an application, we give some criteria for identifying a triangulated catgory to be Gorenstein and an artin algebra to be $F$-Gorenstein.
We study integer-graded cohomology rings defined over Calabi-Yau categories. We show that the cohomology in negative degree is a trivial extension of the cohomology ring in non-negative degree, provided the latter admits a regular sequence of central elements of length two. In particular, the product of elements of negative degrees are zero. As corollaries we apply this to Tate-Hochschild cohomology rings of symmetric algebras, and to Tate cohomology rings over group algebras. We also prove similar results for Tate cohomology rings over commutative local Gorenstein rings.
We use the terms "$\infty$-categories" and "$\infty$-functors" to mean the objects and morphisms in an "$\infty$-cosmos." Quasi-categories, Segal categories, complete Segal spaces, naturally marked simplicial sets, iterated complete Segal spaces, $θ_n$-spaces, and fibered versions of each of these are all $\infty$-categories in this sense. We show that the basic category theory of $\infty$-categories and $\infty$-functors can be developed from the axioms of an $\infty$-cosmos; indeed, most of the work is internal to a strict 2-category of $\infty$-categories, $\infty$-functors, and natural tra…
This paper expands further on a category theoretical formulation of Hochschild cohomology for monoid objects in monoidal categories enriched over abelian groups, which has been studied in arXiv:1605.00842. This topic was also presented at ISCRA, Isfahan, Iran, April 2019. The present paper aims to provide a more intuitive formulation of the Hochschild cochain complex and extend the definition to Hochschild cohomology with values in a bimodule object. In addition, an equivalent formulation of the Hochschild cochain complex in terms of a cosimplicial object in the category of abelian groups is p…
Given a higher-rank graph $Λ$, we investigate the relationship between the cohomology of $Λ$ and the cohomology of the associated groupoid $G_Λ$. We define an exact functor between the abelian category of right modules over a higher-rank graph $Λ$ and the category of $G_Λ$-sheaves, where $G_Λ$ is the path groupoid of $Λ$. We use this functor to construct compatible homomorphisms from both the cohomology of $Λ$ with coefficients in a right $Λ$-module, and the continuous cocycle cohomology of $G_Λ$ with values in the corresponding $G_Λ$-sheaf, into the sheaf cohomology of $G_Λ$.
We study Gorenstein categories. We show that such a category has Tate cohomological functors and Avramov-Martsinkovsky exact sequences connecting the Gorenstein relative, the absolute and the Tate cohomological functors. We show that such a category has what Hovey calls an injective model structure and also a projective model structure in case the category has enough projectives. As examples we show that if X is a locally Gorenstein projective scheme then the category Qco(X) of quasi-coherent sheaves on $X$ is such a category and so has these features.
Given an artin algebra $Λ$ with an idempotent element $a$ we compare the algebras $Λ$ and $aΛa$ with respect to Gorensteinness, singularity categories and the finite generation condition Fg for the Hochschild cohomology. In particular, we identify assumptions on the idempotent element $a$ which ensure that $Λ$ is Gorenstein if and only if $aΛa$ is Gorenstein, that the singularity categories of $Λ$ and $aΛa$ are equivalent and that Fg holds for $Λ$ if and only if Fg holds for $aΛa$. We approach the problem by using recollements of abelian categories and we prove the results concerning Gorenstei…
Extending constructions by Gabriel and Zisman, we develop a functorial framework for the cohomology and homology of simplicial sets with very general coefficient systems given by functors on simplex categories into abelian categories. Furthermore we construct Leray type spectral sequences for any map of simplicial sets. We also show that these constructions generalise and unify the various existing versions of cohomology and homology of small categories and as a bonus provide new insight into their functoriality.
To characterize categorical constraints - associativity, commutativity and monoidality - in the context of quasimonoidal categories, from a cohomological point of view, we define the notion of a parity (quasi)complex. Applied to groups gives non-abelian cohomology. The categorification - functor from groups to monoidal categories - provides the correspondence between the respective parity (quasi)complexes and allows to interpret 1-cochains as functors, 2-cocycles - monoidal structures, 3-cocycles - associators. The cohomology spaces H3, H2, H1, H0 correspond as usual to quasi-extensions, exten…
We consider two categorifications of the cohomology of a topological space X by taking coefficients in the category of differential graded categories. We consider both derived global sections of a constant presheaf and singular cohomology and find the resulting dg-categories are quasi-equivalent and moreover quasi-equivalent to representations in perfect complexes of chains on the loop space of X.
Let $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$ be an extriangulated category with a proper class $ξ$ of $\mathbb{E}$-triangles. In this paper, we study complete cohomology of objects in $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$ by applying $ξ$-projective resolutions and $ξ$-injective coresolutions constructed in $(\mathcal{C},\mathbb{E},\mathfrak{s})$. Vanishing of complete cohomology detects objects with finite $ξ$-projective dimension and finite $ξ$-injective dimension. As a consequence, we obtain some criteria for the validity of the Wakamatsu Tilting Conjecture and give a necessary and sufficie…
These notes are based on a series of five lectures given during the summer school ``Interactions between Homotopy Theory and Algebra'' held at the University of Chicago in 2004.
These are lecture notes for a 1-semester undergraduate course (in computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry or biology) in applied categorical meta-language. The only necessary background for comprehensive reading of these notes are first-year calculus and linear algebra.
It is proved that an element $r$ in the center of a coherent ring $Λ$ annihilates $\mathrm{Ext}^{n}_Λ(M,N)$, for some positive integer $n$ and all finitely presented $Λ$-modules $M$ and $N$, if and only if the bounded derived category of $Λ$ is an extension of the subcategory consisting of complexes annihilated by $r$ and those obtained as $n$-fold extensions of $Λ$. This has applications to finiteness of dimension of derived categories.
Our aim is to give a fairly complete account on the construction of compatible model structures on exact categories and symmetric monoidal exact categories, in some cases generalizing previously known results. We describe the close connection of this theory to approximation theory and cotorsion pairs. We also discuss the motivating applications with the emphasis on constructing monoidal model structures for the derived category of quasi-coherent sheaves of modules over a scheme.
We generalize a recent result by J.F. Carlson to finite tensor categories having finitely generated cohomology. Specifically, we show that if the Krull dimension of the cohomology ring is sufficiently large, then there exist infinitely many non-isomorphic and nontrivial bounded complexes of projective objects, and with small homology. We also prove a version for finite dimensional algebras with finitely generated cohomology.
Given a rigid tensor-triangulated category and a vector space valued homological functor for which the Künneth isomorphism holds, we construct a universal graded-Tannakian category through which the given homological functor factors. We use this to (unconditionally) construct graded-Tannakian categories of pure motives associated to a fixed Weil cohomology theory, with a fiber functor realizing the given cohomology theory. For $\ell$-adic cohomology and a ground field which is algebraic over a finite field, this category is Tannakian. In this case, we obtain in particular motivic Galois groups…
Davydov-Yetter cohomology classifies infinitesimal deformations of tensor categories and of tensor functors. Our first result is that Davydov-Yetter cohomology for finite tensor categories is equivalent to the cohomology of a comonad arising from the central Hopf monad. This has several applications: First, we obtain a short and conceptual proof of Ocneanu rigidity. Second, it allows to use standard methods from comonad cohomology theory to compute Davydov-Yetter cohomology for a family of non-semisimple finite-dimensional Hopf algebras generalizing Sweedler's four dimensional Hopf algebra.
The present paper is an extension of a previous paper written in collaboration with Markus Reineke dealing with quiver representations. The aim of the paper is to generalize the theory and to provide a comprehensive theory of Donaldson-Thomas invariants for abelian categories of homological dimension one (without potential) satisfying some technical conditions. The theory will apply for instance to representations of quivers, coherent sheaves on smooth projective curves, and some coherent sheaves on smooth projective surfaces. We show that the (motivic) Donaldson-Thomas invariants satisfy the …
We study the biclosedness of the monoidal categories of modules and comodules over a (left or right) Hopf algebroid, along with the bimodule category centres of the respective opposite categories and a corresponding categorical equivalence to anti Yetter-Drinfel'd contramodules and anti Yetter-Drinfel'd modules, respectively. This is directly connected to the existence of a trace functor on the monoidal categories of modules and comodules in question, which in turn allows to recover (or define) cyclic operators enabling cyclic cohomology.
In this monograph, we extend S. Schwede's exact sequence interpretation of the Gerstenhaber bracket in Hochschild cohomology to certain exact and monoidal categories. Therefore we establish an explicit description of an isomorphism by A. Neeman and V. Retakh, which links $\mathrm{Ext}$-groups with fundamental groups of categories of extensions and relies on expressing the fundamental group of a (small) category by means of the associated Quillen groupoid. As a main result, we show that our construction behaves well with respect to structure preserving functors between exact monoidal categories…
