Braided systems: a unified treatment of algebraic structures with several operations (Q1689735)

An object \(V\) in a monidal category \(\mathcal{C}\) is called braided if there is a morphism \(\sigma:V\otimes V\to V \otimes V\) such that the Yang-Baxter Equation (YBE) holds, i.e., \((\sigma\otimes 1)(1\otimes \sigma)(\sigma\otimes 1) = (1\otimes \sigma)(\sigma\otimes 1)(1\otimes \sigma):V\otimes V\otimes V \to V\otimes V\otimes V\). While \(\mathcal{C}\) could be a category with only a single binary operation (e.g., vector spaces over a given field), the work being reviewed is focused on categories with multiple operations, for example the category of bialgebras. When \(\mathcal{C}\) admits multiple operations, the notion of a braided object is generalized to a braided system: a finite family of objects \(\{V_i\}\) together with morphisms \(V_i\otimes V_j\to V_j\otimes V_i\) satisfying a property analogous to the YBE (indeed, called the colored version of the YBE). The rank of the braided system is the size of the family. Braided objects have theories of representations, homology, and cohomology; these notions are extended to rank \(r\) braided systems. When the systems consist of unital associative algebras, relationships between such systems and bialgebras are given, as well as relationships with generalized two-sided crossed products.