On modules and crossed modules (Q1911337)

This is an elegant paper which, as claimed by the authors, is ``without any result''. It is a `meditation on the concept of module'. By examining a possible unifying concept of crossed module and modulated model in a very general context of algebraic theories, the authors then examine how these concepts clarify the various examples of module, crossed module, two cycles and objects of derivations. Their concepts lead to an interesting set of examples involving algebras with polynomial axioms (e.g. \(\lambda\)-rings).