Quantum double for quasi-Hopf algebras (Q1127722)

The quantum double construction of Drinfel'd associates to every Hopf algebra a quasi-triangular Hopf algebra. The goal of the paper under review is to generalize this construction to quasi-Hopf algebras (i.e., Hopf algebras for which the comultiplication is only coassociative up to a 3-cocycle). This is done by first considering the categorical picture of the quantum double construction and then recovering the corresponding quasi-triangular quasi-Hopf algebra via the Tannaka-Krein reconstruction technique. The paper concludes by applying this to the example of the algebra of functions on a finite group together with a (group) 3-cocycle. In this case the resulting quantum double recovers the quasi-triangular quasi-Hopf algebra introduced directly by Dijkgraaf, Pasquier, and Roche in connection with a certain toy model relevant for conformal field theory.