Weak tensor category and related generalized Hopf algebras. (Q2508626)

The authors discuss various generalizations of bialgebras and Hopf algebras and their representation categories. An almost bialgebra differs from a bialgebra in that the comultiplication need not be a unital map (nor the counit be multiplicative). An almost bialgebra is called a weak bialgebra if the unit and counit satisfy some triple tensor product conditions. A bialgebra is called a pre-Hopf algebra if it has a map \(T\) such that \(I*T*I=I\) and \(T*I*T=T\), \(*\) the convolution product (this was called a weak Hopf algebra elsewhere, e.g., by the first author [J. Algebra 208, No. 1, 72-100 (1998; Zbl 0916.16020)]). In the paper under review, a weak Hopf algebra is a weak bialgebra with a map satisfying 3 properties that the antipode of a Hopf algebra would satisfy, one of which involves its interaction with the triple tensor product. On the categorical side, a pre-tensor category has a tensor product satisfying the pentagon axiom, and a weak tensor category is a pre-tensor category with a unit-like object satisfying a long list of conditions. We give some sample results. A weak Hopf algebra has a representation category which is a weak tensor category with left and right duality. A finite-dimensional quasi-triangular weak Hopf algebra has a representation category which is a regular braided weak tensor category with left and right duality. One feature about weak Hopf algebras is that it is natural to assume that the braiding (if there is one) is a natural transformation rather than a natural isomorphism.