Directed algebraic topology, categories and higher categories (Q2463398)

This paper is a survey of the author's exploration of the links between algebraic topology and computer science, more precisely with concurrency theory. This paper is based on the author's contribution at the conference ``Charles Ehresmann; 100 ans'', Amiens, 7-9 October 2005. It presents the general mathematical setting and some results about fundamental categories. A section is also devoted to weighted algebraic topology in which each execution path has a weight measuring for example its cost (in energy, price or duration). The main difference with other works between algebraic topology and concurrency theory is that a homotopy between two execution paths is here \textit{directed}. In the other settings, local pospaces [\textit{L. Fajstrup, M. Raußen, E. Goubault}, Theor. Comput. Sci. 357, No.~1--3, 241--278 (2006; Zbl 1099.55003)] or flows [\textit{P. Gaucher}, Homology Homotopy Appl. 5, No.~1, 549--599, electronic only (2003; Zbl 1069.55008)], a homotopy between two execution paths is only a continuous path in the space of execution paths, i.e. it is non-directed. So the author has to consider the closure with respect to both symmetry and transitivity to get an equivalence relation. This choice is motivated by the fact that the fundamental category functor arising from directed homotopy of execution paths with fixed ends enjoys a general Seifert Van Kampen theorem. The drawback of this approach is that the model category setting in the sense of [\textit{M. Hovey}, Model categories. Mathematical Surveys and Monographs. 63. (Providence), RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). (1999; Zbl 0909.55001)] does not seem to be usable since a cylinder functor arising from a model category structure has nothing directed. A consequence of this difference is that the author's fundamental category functor does not always coincide with the Fajstrup-Goubault-Raußen one. The two notions are the same in the case of a geometric cubical complex without degeneracies in the sense of [\textit{L. Fajstrup}, Adv. Appl. Math. 35, No.~2, 188--206 (2005Zbl 1085.55010)].