Twin TQFTs and Frobenius algebras (Q2337040)

Summary: We introduce the category of singular 2-dimensional cobordisms and show that it admits a completely algebraic description as the free symmetric monoidal category on a \textit{twin Frobenius algebra}, by providing a description of this category in terms of generators and relations. A twin Frobenius algebra \((C, W, z, z^\ast)\) consists of a commutative Frobenius algebra \(C\), a symmetric Frobenius algebra \(W\), and an algebra homomorphism \(z : C \to W\) with dual \(z^\ast : W \to C\), satisfying some extra conditions. We also introduce a generalized 2-dimensional Topological Quantum Field Theory defined on singular 2-dimensional cobordisms and show that it is equivalent to a twin Frobenius algebra in a symmetric monoidal category.