Cohomological classification of braided Ann-categories (Q2018825)

The article under review concerns itself with so called braided Ann-categories, which can be thought of as commutative categorical rings, and classifies them in terms of certain cohomology groups \(\mathrm{H}^i_{ab}(R,M)\) for \(i = 1,2,3\). These results are analogous to earlier classification results in terms of Mac Lane and Shukla cohomology. To be more precise, an Ann-category is, by definition, given by the following data: {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[{\(\bullet\)}] A category \(\mathcal A\) with two bifunctors \(\oplus, \otimes : \mathcal A \times \mathcal A \rightarrow \mathcal A\).\item[{\(\bullet\)}] A fixed object \(0 \in \mathcal A\) such that \((\mathcal A, \oplus, 0)\) is a symmetric categorical group, i.e., a symmetric monoidal category whose underlying category is a groupoid.\item[{\(\bullet\)}] A fixed object \(1 \in \mathcal A\) such that \((\mathcal A, \otimes, 1)\) is a monoidal category.\item[{\(\bullet\)}] Natural isomorphisms \(\mathfrak L\) and \(\mathfrak R\) (``Distribution laws''): \[ \mathfrak L : A \otimes (X \oplus Y) \longrightarrow (A \otimes X) \oplus (A \otimes Y), \] \[ \mathfrak R : (X \oplus Y) \otimes A \longrightarrow (X \otimes A) \oplus (Y \otimes A). \] \end{itemize}} Amongst these data, one requires certain, to large extend very natural, coherence conditions. An Ann-category \((\mathcal A, \oplus, 0, \otimes, 1, \mathfrak L, \mathfrak R)\) is \textit{braided} if there is a compatible braiding \(c\) for the monoidal category \((\mathcal A, \otimes, 1)\) satisfying \(c_{0,0} = \mathrm{id}_{0 \otimes 0} : 0 \otimes 0 \rightarrow 0 \otimes 0\). (Braided) Ann-functors between (braided) Ann-categories are defined in the evident way. One thus obtains the \textit{category of braided Ann-categories}, denoted by \(\mathbf{BrAnn}\), whose objects are braided Ann-categories and whose morphisms are braided Ann-functors. It is easy to observe that if \(\mathcal A\) is a braided Ann-category, then \(\pi_0 \mathcal A\) is a commutative ring, and \(\pi_1 \mathcal A = \mathrm{End}_{\mathcal A}(0)\) is a module over it. Using the cohomology groups \(\mathrm{H}^3_{ab}(R,M)\), where \(R\) is a commutative ring and \(M\) is an \(R\)-module, the authors define a category \(\mathbf{H^3_{\mathbf{BrAnn}}}\). They then construct a functor \[ d : \mathbf{BrAnn} \rightarrow \mathbf{H^3_{\mathbf{BrAnn}}} \] which they prove to be almost an equivalence of categories, in that it ``reflects'' isomorphisms, and is full and dense (even surjective on objects), but not faithful. Finally, for a commutative ring \(R\) and an \(R\)-module \(M\), a bijection \[ \mathbf{BrAnn}[R,M] \rightarrow \mathrm{H}_{ab}^3(R,M) \] is established, where \(\mathbf{BrAnn}[R,M]\) denotes the set of isomorphism classes (with respect to a good notion of isomorphisms) of braided Ann-categories \(\mathcal A\) satisfying the following property: there is a pair of ring isomorphisms \(p : R \rightarrow \pi_0 \mathcal A\) and \(q : M \rightarrow \pi_1 \mathcal A\) (where \(M\) is regarded as a ring with the null multiplication) which are compatible with the module action.