The Eckmann-Hilton argument and higher operads (Q2461790)

The classical Eckmann-Hilton argument shows that if a set is equipped with two monoid multiplications such that one defines a homomorphism for the other then these multiplications coincide and the resulting monoid is commutative. This argument is used e.g., to prove that the higher homotopy groups of topological spaces are abelian. The starting point of this paper is the following interpretation of the Eckmann-Hilton argument in terms of 2-categories. Given a 2-category with one object and one 1-arrow the ``horizontal'' and ``vertical'' compositions of 2-arrows coincide and they define a commutative monoid structure on the set of 2-arrows. As a consequence one obtains an equivalence between the category of 2-categories with one object and one 1-arrow, and the category of commutative monoids. In view of this fact one can seek a higher-dimensional generalization of the Eckmann-Hilton argument in the form of a statement which would identify the algebraic structure determined by an \(n\)-category with one object and one \(k\)-arrow for \(1\leq k \leq n-1\). The author reformulates this problem in the language of higher operads which he introduced in ``Monoidal globular categories as a natural environment for the theory of weak \(n\)-categories'' [\textit{M. A. Batanin}, Adv. Math. 136, 39--103 (1998; Zbl 0912.18006)]. In that paper he defined weak \(n\)-categories as algebras over an appropriate \(n\)-operad. Stated in these terms the question becomes, given an \(n\)-operad \(A\) what is the algebraic structure that is equivalent to an \(A\)-algebra with one object and one \(k\)-arrow for \(1\leq k\leq n-1\)? In order to solve this problem the author constructs for a given \(n\)-operad \(A\) its symmetrization \(\text{Sym}_{n}(A)\) which is a classical, symmetric operad. He shows then that the category of \(A\)-algebras with one object and one \(k\)-arrow for \(1\leq k\leq n-1\) is isomorphic to the category of algebras over \(\text{Sym}_{n}(A)\).