Presheaves of symmetric tensor categories and nets of \(C^\ast\)-algebras (Q2345695)

Summary: Motivated by algebraic quantum field theory, we study presheaves of symmetric tensor categories defined over the base of a space, intended as a spacetime. Any section of a presheaf (that is, any ``superselection sector'', in the applications that we have in mind) defines a holonomy representation whose triviality is measured by Cheeger-Chern-Simons characteristic classes, and a non-abelian unitary cocycle defining a Lie group gerbe. We show that, given an embedding in a presheaf of full subcategories of the one of Hilbert spaces, the section category of a presheaf is a Tannaka-type dual of a locally constant group bundle (the ``gauge group''), which may not exist and in general is not unique. This leads to the notion of gerbe of \(C^*\)-algebras, defined on the given base.