Trace as an alternative decategorification functor (Q490023)

A (de)categorification of a given structure needs not to be unique. In this survey paper, the authors deal with the comparison of Grothendieck decategorification and trace decategorification, both defined by certain decategorification functors: \(K_0\), and respectively \(\text{Tr}\). These two decategorification procedures need not agree in general, and in this sense, a large class of examples is provided. Nevertheless, the main result of the paper, that appears also in [the first author et al., ``Current algebras and categorified quantum groups'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1412.1417}] and [\textit{M. Khovanov} and the fourth author, Quantum Topol. 1, No. 1, 1--92 (2010; Zbl 1206.17015); erratum ibid. 2, No. 1, 97--99 (2011)], asserts that certain \(2\)-categories \(\mathcal{U}(\mathfrak{g})\) simultaneously categorify the quantum group \(\mathbf{U}(\mathfrak{sl}_n)\) via the Grothendieck group decategorification functor \(K_0\) and the trace decategorification functor \(\text{Tr}\).