The algebraic structure of the universal complicial sets (Q456876)

There is a sequence of strict \(\omega\)-categories associated to the (oriented) simplexes introduced by Ross Street called the orientals. Using the orientals, Street defines a nerve functor from strict \(\omega\)-categories taking values in simplicial sets. A theorem of Dominic Verity characterizes its essential image: the complicial sets, which are simplicial sets with distinguished collections of so-called thin simplices satisfying certain axioms. The thin simplices are used to encode the composition structure of the \(\omega\)-category; a simplex in the nerve of an \(\omega\)-category is thin just when its top dimensional cells are identities. This result provides a combinatorial description of strict \(\omega\)-categories. This paper aims to provide a similar algebraic description using operations and equational axioms. The main theorem characterizes the nerves of the orientals as graded sets satisfying the complicial identities, introduced below. Furthermore, the nerve of the \(n\)-th oriental is freely generated with this property by the identity morphism in degree \(n\). Future work intends to establish an equivalence between sets satisfying the complicial identities and complicial sets. Previous work of the author identifies the nerves of the orientals with graded sets \(O(-,n)\) whose elements are certain chain maps between chain complexes of abelian groups. These graded sets are easily seen to be simplicial sets. The key observation is that these simplicial sets admit certain additional ``wedge operations'': given a pair of \(m\)-simplices \(x\) and \(y\) so that the \(i\)th face of \(x\) is the \(i+1\)th face of \(y\), there is an \(m+1\) simplex \(x \wedge_i y\) whose \(i+1\)th face is thought of as the pasted composite of \(x\) and \(y\). The main theorem from the previous paper is that every element of \(O(-,n)\) can be expressed in terms of the identity element \(\iota_n \in O(n,n)\) using the face, degeneracy, and wedge operations. In this paper, the general definition of a simplicial set with complicial identities is introduced. Such a simplicial set must have wedge operations of the form just described satisfying several axioms. Among other things, these axioms specify all but the \(i+1\)th face of a wedge \(x \wedge_i y\); as above, this unspecified face is thought of as the composite of \(x\) and \(y\) along a common face of codimension \(-1\). A morphism of simplicial sets with cosimplicial identities is a map of simplicial sets preserving the wedges. The graded sets \(O(-,n)\) are easily seen to be examples. The main theorem says that for any simplicial set \(U\) with cosimplicial identities and any \(n\)-simplex \(u \in U\), there is a unique map \(O(-,n) \to U\) that carries the identity element \(\iota_n\) to \(u\).