A simplicial foundation for differential and sector forms in tangent categories (Q1630584)

There is a relatively straightforward analog of the notion of differential form in any tangent category, namely, multilinear and alternating maps \[ T_{n}M\rightarrow E \] where \(T_{n}M\) is the fiber product of \(n\) copies of the tangent bundle \(TM\rightarrow E\) over \(M\) and \(E\) is a coefficient object. However one finds difficulty in attempting to define a direct analog of the exterior derivative of such forms in an arbitrary tangent category. In order to find a solution, the authors turn to synthetic differential geometry, in which a differential form (called \textit{singular forms}) is a multilinear alternating mapping \[ T^{n}M\rightarrow E \] with \(T^{n}M\) being the \(n\) times iterate of the tangent bundle of \(M\) [\textit{A. Kock} et al., Forms and integration in synthetic differential geometry. Prepr. Ser., Aarhus Univ. 1979/80, No. 31 (1980; Zbl 0465.51005)]. The definition of exterior derivative there, which involves an alternating sum of permutations of the Jacobian derivative, is to be transferred easily to tangent categories. The authors, going a step further, notice that the definition of exterior derivative for singular forms persists for \textit{sector forms} [\textit{J. E. White}, The method of iterated tangents with applications in local Riemannian geometry. Boston - London - Melbourne: Pitman Advanced Publishing Program (1982; Zbl 0478.58002)], which are required only to be multilinear without being required to be alternating. They go one more step further to realize finally that these sector forms constitute an augmented symmetric cosimplicial object (Theorem 7.7), that is to say, that for each \(n\), there are \(n+1\) co-face operations taking sector \(n\)-forms to sector \((n+1)\)-forms, there are \(n-1\) symmetric operations taking sector \(n\)-forms to sector \(n\)-forms, and there are \(n-1\) co-degeneracy operations taking sector \(n\)-forms to sector \((n-1)\)-forms (Proposition 7.3). It is easy to see that the complex of sector forms and the complex of singular forms derive from this cosimplicial object. Sector forms generalize differential forms, covariant tensors and singular forms. This paper is concerned with the calculus of sector forms within the framework of tangent categories.