Nerves of bicategories as stratified simplicial sets

In this paper, we aim to move towards a definition of weak n-category akin to Street’s definition of weak ω-category. This will be accomplished in dimension 1 directly and in dimension 2 by comparison with work of Duskin. In particular, we discuss the relationship between certain weak complicial sets and Duskin’s n-dimensional Postnikov complexes.     

Symmetrisation of n-operads and compactification of real configuration spaces

It is well known that the forgetful functor from symmetric operads to nonsymmetric operads has a left adjoint Sym₁ given by product with the symmetric group operad. It is also well known that this functor does not affect the category of algebras of the operad. From the point of view of the author's theory of higher operads, the nonsymmetric operads are 1-operads and Sym₁ is the first term of the infinite series of left adjoint functors Symn, called symmetrisation functors, from n-operads to symmetric operads with the property that the category of one object, one arrow, …, one (n−1)-arrow algebras of an n-operad A is isomorphic to the category of algebras of Symn(A).In this paper we consider some geometrical and homotopical aspects of the symmetrisation of n-operads. We follow Getzler and Jones and consider their decomposition of the Fulton-Macpherson operad of compactified real configuration spaces. We construct an n-operadic counterpart of this compactification which we call the Getzler-Jones operad. We study the properties of Getzler-Jones operad and find that it is contractible and cofibrant in an appropriate model category. The symmetrisation of the Getzler-Jones operad turns out to be exactly the operad of Fulton and Macpherson. These results should be considered as an extension of Stasheff's theory of 1-fold loop spaces to n-fold loop spaces n?2. We also show that a space X with an action of a contractible n-operad has a natural structure of an algebra over an operad weakly equivalent to the little n-disks operad. A similar result holds for chain operads. These results generalise the classical Eckman-Hilton argument to arbitrary dimension.Finally, we apply the techniques to the Swiss-Cheese type operads introduced by Voronov and prove analogous results in this case.     

The Eckmann-Hilton argument and higher operads

The classical Eckmann-Hilton argument shows that two monoid structures on a set, such that one is a homomorphism for the other, coincide and, moreover, the resulting monoid is commutative. This argument immediately gives a proof of the commutativity of the higher homotopy groups. A reformulation of this argument in the language of higher categories is: suppose we have a one object, one arrow 2-category, then its Hom-set is a commutative monoid. A similar argument due to A. Joyal and R. Street shows that a one object, one arrow tricategory is ‘the same’ as a braided monoidal category.In this paper we begin to investigate how one can extend this argument to arbitrary dimension. We provide a simple categorical scheme which allows us to formalise the Eckmann-Hilton type argument in terms of the calculation of left Kan extensions in an appropriate 2-category. Then we apply this scheme to the case of n-operads in the author's sense and classical symmetric operads. We demonstrate that there exists a functor of symmetrisation Symn from a certain subcategory of n-operads to the category of symmetric operads such that the category of one object, one arrow, … , one (n−1)-arrow algebras of A is isomorphic to the category of algebras of Symn(A). Under some mild conditions, we present an explicit formula for Symn(A) which involves taking the colimit over a remarkable categorical symmetric operad.We will consider some applications of the methods developed to the theory of n-fold loop spaces in the second paper of this series.     

On the Penon method of weakening algebraic structures

We consider a generalization of the Penon approach to the definition of weak n-category and compare his definition with that of the author.     

Cube structures and intersection bundles

We define the notion of a hypercube structure on a functor between two commutative Picard categories which generalizes the notion of a cube structure on a G_m-torsor over an abelian scheme. We prove that the determinant functor of a relative scheme X/S of relative dimension n is canonically endowed with a (n+2)-cube structure. We use this result to define the intersection bundle I_X/S(L₁,…,L_n+1) of n+1 line bundles on X/S and to construct an additive structure on the functor I_X/S:PIC(X/S)ⁿ⁺¹→PIC(S). Then, we construct the resultant of n+1 sections of n+1 line bundles on X, and the discriminant of a section of a line bundle on X. Finally we study the relationship between the cube structures on the determinant functor and on the discriminant functor, and we use it to prove a polarization formula for the discriminant functor.     

The homotopy theory of bialgebras over pairs of operads

We endow the category of bialgebras over a pair of operads in distribution with a cofibrantly generated model category structure. We work in the category of chain complexes over a field of characteristic zero. We split our construction in two steps. In the first step, we equip coalgebras over an operad with a cofibrantly generated model category structure. In the second step we use the adjunction between bialgebras and coalgebras via the free algebra functor. This result allows us to do classical homotopical algebra in various categories such as associative bialgebras, Lie bialgebras or Poisson bialgebras in chain complexes.     

On Hopf algebra structures over free operads

The operad Lie can be constructed as the operad of primitives PrimAs from the operad As of associative algebras. This is reflected by the theorems of Friedrichs, Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt and Cartier-Milnor-Moore. We replace the operad As by families of free operads P, which include the operad Mag freely generated by a non-commutative non-associative binary operation and the operad of Stasheff polytopes. We obtain Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt type theorems and collect information about the operads PrimP, e.g., in terms of characteristic functions.     

The operad Lie is free

We show that the operad Lie is free as a non-symmetric operad. Then we study the generating series counting the operadic generators. We find a recursive formula for the coefficients of the series and show that the asymptotic density of the operadic generators is 1/e.     

Operads within Monoidal Pseudo Algebras

A general notion of operad is given, which includes: (1) the operads that arose in algebraic topology in the 1970s to characterise loop spaces. (2) the higher operads of Michael Batanin [4] (3) braided and symmetric analogues of Batanin’s operads which are likely to be important in the study of weakly symmetric higher dimensional monoidal categories. The framework of this paper, links together two-dimensional monad theory, operads, and higher dimensional algebra, in a natural way.     

The 2-category theory of quasi-categories

In this paper we re-develop the foundations of the category theory of quasi-categories (also called ∞-categories) using 2-category theory. We show that Joyal's strict 2-category of quasi-categories admits certain weak 2-limits, among them weak comma objects. We use these comma quasi-categories to encode universal properties relevant to limits, colimits, and adjunctions and prove the expected theorems relating these notions. These universal properties have an alternate form as absolute lifting diagrams in the 2-category, which we show are determined pointwise by the existence of certain initial or terminal vertices, allowing for the easy production of examples.     

Categories with sums and right distributive tensor product

Models for parallel and concurrent processes lead quite naturally to the study of monoidal categories (Inform. Comput. 88 (2) (1990) 105). In particular a category Tree of trees, equipped with a non-symmetric tensor product, interpreted as a concatenation, seems to be very useful to represent (local) behavior of non-deterministic agents able to communicate (Enriched Categories for Local and Interaction Calculi, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 283, Springer, Berlin, 1987, pp. 57-70). The category Tree is also provided with a coproduct (corresponding to choice between behaviors) and the tensor product is only partially distributive w.r.t. it, in order to preserve non-determinism. Such a category can be properly defined as the category of the (finite) symmetric categories on a free monoid, when this free monoid is considered as a 2-category. The monoidal structure is inherited from the concatenation in the monoid. In this paper we prove that for every alphabet A, Tree(A), the category of finite A-labeled trees is equivalent to the free category which is generated by A and enjoys the afore-mentioned properties. The related category Beh(A), corresponding to global behaviors is also proven to be equivalent to the free category which is generated by A and enjoys a smaller set of properties.     

On the categorical meaning of Hausdorff and Gromov distances, I

Hausdorff and Gromov distances are introduced and treated in the context of categories enriched over a commutative unital quantale V. The Hausdorff functor which, for every V-category X, provides the powerset of X with a suitable V-category structure, is part of a monad on V-Cat whose Eilenberg-Moore algebras are order-complete. The Gromov construction may be pursued for any endofunctor K of V-Cat. In order to define the Gromov “distance” between V-categories X and Y we use V-modules between X and Y, rather than V-category structures on the disjoint union of X and Y. Hence, we first provide a general extension theorem which, for any K, yields a lax extension to the category V-Mod of V-categories, with V-modules as morphisms.     

A folk model structure on omega-cat

The primary aim of this work is an intrinsic homotopy theory of strict ω-categories. We establish a model structure on ωCat, the category of strict ω-categories. The constructions leading to the model structure in question are expressed entirely within the scope of ωCat, building on a set of generating cofibrations and a class of weak equivalences as basic items. All objects are fibrant while free objects are cofibrant. We further exhibit model structures of this type on n-categories for arbitrary n∈N, as specializations of the ω-categorical one along right adjoints. In particular, known cases for n=1 and n=2 nicely fit into the scheme.     

Fibred 2-categories and bicategories

We generalise the usual notion of fibred category; first to fibred 2-categories and then to fibred bicategories. Fibred 2-categories correspond to 2-functors from a 2-category into 2Cat. Fibred bicategories correspond to trihomomorphisms from a bicategory into Bicat. We describe the Grothendieck construction for each kind of fibration and present a few examples of each. Fibrations in our sense, between bicategories, are closed under composition and are stable under equiv-comma. The free such fibration on a homomorphism is obtained by taking an oplax comma along an identity.     

Bilimits are bifinal objects

We prove that a (lax) bilimit of a 2-functor is characterized by the existence of a limiting contraction in the 2-category of (lax) cones over the diagram. We also investigate the notion of bifinal object and prove that a (lax) bilimit is a limiting bifinal object in the 2-category of (lax) cones. Everything is developed in the context of marked 2-categories, so that the machinery can be applied to different levels of laxity, including pseudo-limits.     

Algebras of Higher Operads as Enriched Categories

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 begin to adapt the machinery of globular operads (Batanin, Adv Math 136:39–103, 1998) to this task. We present a general construction of a tensor product on the category of n-globular sets from any normalised (n + 1)-operad A, in such a way that the algebras for A may be recaptured as enriched categories for the induced tensor product. This is an important step in reconciling the globular and simplicial approaches to higher category theory, because in the simplicial approaches one proceeds inductively following the idea that a weak (n + 1)-category is something like a category enriched in weak n-categories. In this paper we reveal how such an intuition may be formulated in terms of globular operads.     

Iterated monoidal categories

We develop a notion of an n-fold monoidal category and show that it corresponds in a precise way to the notion of an n-fold loop space. Specifically, the group completion of the nerve of such a category is an n-fold loop space, and free n-fold monoidal categories give rise to a finite simplicial operad of the same homotopy type as the classical little cubes operad used to parametrize the higher H-space structure of an n-fold loop space. We also show directly that this operad has the same homotopy type as the n-th Smith filtration of the Barratt-Eccles operad and the n-th filtration of Berger's complete graph operad. Moreover, this operad contains an equivalent preoperad which gives rise to Milgram's small model for when n=2 and is very closely related to Milgram's model of for n>2.     

Towards Stone duality for topological theories

In the context of categorical topology, more precisely that of T-categories (Hofmann, 2007 [8]), we define the notion of T-colimit as a particular colimit in a V-category. A complete and cocomplete V-category in which limits distribute over T-colimits, is to be thought of as the generalisation of a (co-)frame to this categorical level. We explain some ideas on a T-categorical version of “Stone duality”, and show that Cauchy completeness of a T-category is precisely its sobriety.     

The bar complex of an E-infinity algebra

The standard reduced bar complex B(A) of a differential graded algebra A inherits a natural commutative algebra structure if A is a commutative algebra. We address an extension of this construction in the context of E-infinity algebras. We prove that the bar complex of any E-infinity algebra can be equipped with the structure of an E-infinity algebra so that the bar construction defines a functor from E-infinity algebras to E-infinity algebras. We prove the homotopy uniqueness of such natural E-infinity structures on the bar construction.We apply our construction to cochain complexes of topological spaces, which are instances of E-infinity algebras. We prove that the n-th iterated bar complexes of the cochain algebra of a space X is equivalent to the cochain complex of the n-fold iterated loop space of X, under reasonable connectedness, completeness and finiteness assumptions on X.