Comonad cohomology of track categories (Q2280124)

The authors provide a new approach to the cohomology of track categories via comonad cohomology that they envisage generalizing to higher dimensions. A track category is a small category enriched in groupoids; throughout the paper, the object set \(\mathcal{O}\) is fixed. The authors exploit the fact that such a track category is equivalently an internal groupoid in the category \(\mathsf{Cat}_{\mathcal{O}}\) of small categories with object set \(\mathcal{O}\); in particular, a track category \(X\) has an underlying category \(X_0\). The comonad cohomology is constructed using an adjunction \[ \mathsf{Graph} _{\mathcal{O}} \rightleftarrows\mathsf{Track}_{\mathcal{O}} \] between the categories of reflexive graphs and track categories, with associated comonad \(\mathcal{K}\). Thus, for \(X \in \mathsf{Track}_{\mathcal{O}}\) and coefficients \(M\) (an abelian group object in the appropriate over category), the authors define the comonad cohomology \[ H^n _{\mathrm{C}} (X,M) := \pi^n \mathrm{Hom}_{ \mathsf{Track}_{\mathcal{O}}/X} (\mathcal{K}_\bullet X, M). \] Applying the internal nerve to the track category \(X\) gives an \((\mathcal{S}, \mathcal{O})\)-category \(IX\) (a small category enriched in simplicial sets with object set \(\mathcal{O}\)). The cohomology of \((\mathcal{S}, \mathcal{O})\)-categories is defined following [\textit{W. G. Dwyer} et al., Indag. Math. 48, 153--161 (1986; Zbl 0609.55009)]; in particular, for \(X\) and \(M\) as above, this gives \(H^*_{\mathrm{SO}} (IX; M) \). The main result of the paper relates these cohomology theories. Writing \(dX_0\) for the discrete track category on \(X_0\), the authors exhibit a long exact sequence \[ \ldots \rightarrow H^n_{\mathrm{SO}} (IX; M) \rightarrow H^n_{\mathrm{SO}} (I dX_0; j^* M) \rightarrow H^n _{\mathrm{C}} (X,M) \rightarrow H^{n+1}_{\mathrm{SO}} (IX; M)\rightarrow\ldots. \] Using the comparison between \((\mathcal{S},\mathcal{O})\)-cohomology of \(IdX_0\) and a version of Baues-Wirsching cohomology for \(X_0\) [\textit{H.-J. Baues} and \textit{D. Blanc}, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 215, No. 6, 1420--1439 (2011; Zbl 1216.55006)], together with vanishing of the latter for free categories, they deduce an isomorphism \(H^{n+1}_{\mathrm{SO}} (IX; M)\cong H^n _{\mathrm{C}} (X,M) \) when \(X_0\) is free. To treat the general case, they construct a natural \(2\)-equivalence of track categories \(S(X)\rightarrow X\) such that \(S(X)_0\) is free, leading to the identification \[ H^{n+1}_{\mathrm{SO}} (IX; M)\cong H^n _{\mathrm{C}} (S(X),M) \] of \((\mathcal{S},\mathcal{O})\)-cohomology in terms of comonad cohomology. Finally, the authors consider the special case of \(2\)-groupoids, identifying the \((\mathcal{S},\mathcal{O})\)-cohomology with that of the appropriate classifying space. Thus interpreted, the above long exact sequence generalizes a result of [\textit{S. Paoli}, Homology Homotopy Appl. 5, No. 1, 261--296 (2003; Zbl 1036.18008)].