Cosimplicial monoids and deformation theory of tensor categories (Q6060967)

There are two categories naturally associated to any symmetric monoidal category \(\boldsymbol{V}\), namely, the category of monoids \(\boldsymbol{Mon} \left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) \)\ and its subcategory of commutative monoids \(\boldsymbol{Com}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) \). This paper argues that in some specific symmetric monoidal category one can have nontrivial intermediate subcategories of -commutative monoids for every \(0\leq n\leq\infty\), where \(n=0\)\ corresponds to monoids, while \(n=\infty\) corresponds to commutative monoids. A \textit{cosimplicial monoid} in \(\boldsymbol{V}\)\ is a monoid in the category of cosimplicial objects in \(\boldsymbol{V}\)\ with respect to the pointwise symmetric monoidal structure, while a \textit{commutative} \textit{cosimplicial monoid} in \(\boldsymbol{V}\)\ is a commutative monoid in the category of cosimplicial objects in \(\boldsymbol{V}\)\ with respect to the pointwise symmetric monoidal structure. The notion of \(n\)\textit{-commutativity} is defined in Definition 2.14. Denoting the category of \(n\)-commutative cosimplicial monoids by \(\boldsymbol{Mon}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) _{n}^{\Delta}\), we have an infinite sequence of inclusions \[ \boldsymbol{Com}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) ^{\Delta}=\boldsymbol{Mon} \left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) _{\infty}^{\Delta}\rightarrow\cdots \rightarrow\boldsymbol{Mon}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) _{n}^{\Delta }\rightarrow\cdots\boldsymbol{Mon}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) _{0}^{\Delta }=\boldsymbol{Mon}\left( \boldsymbol{V}\right) ^{\Delta} \] The first result in this paper (Theorem 2.45) relates this tower to the tower of categories of algebras \(E_{n}\)\ of the little \(n\)-cubes operads. A nice feature of this \(E_{n}\)-algebra is that it is very combinatorically explicit. The authors take advantage of this nature, describing explicitly the main structural operations (Steenrod \(\cup_{i}\)-products and Poisson bracket) on the total complex of an \(n\)-commutative cosimplicial algebra (Theorem 2.56) as signed linear combinations of certain explicit operations on \(E\). The terms are compositions of cosimplicial coface maps and multiplication in \(E\). The combinatorics selecting the terms is controlled by liftings of complexity \(n\)\ of smooth Delannoy paths [\textit{C. Banderier} and \textit{S. Schwer}, J. Stat. Plann. Inference 135, No. 1, 40--54 (2005; Zbl 1074.01012)] on a commutative rectangular lattice. f This paper is the first appearance of Delannoy paths in homotopy theory. In the second part of the paper, the authors deal with main examples of \(n\)-commutative cosimplicial monoids, the deformation complexes of tensor functors and of tensor categories introduced by the second author in [J. Math. Sci., New York 88, No. 4, 457--519 (1998; Zbl 0907.18002); ``Twisting of monoidal structures'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:q-alg/9703001}] and independently by \textit{L. Crane} and \textit{D. N. Yetter} [Cah. Topologie Géom. Différ. Catégoriques 39, No. 3, 163--180 (1998; Zbl 0916.18005) and \textit{D. N. Yetter} [Contemp. Math. 230, 117--134 (1998; Zbl 0927.18003). It is shown that the deformation complex of a tensor functor has a natural structure of a 1-commutative cosimplicial monoid (\S 3.1) and that the deformation complex of the identity functor of a tensor category is 2-commutative (\S 3.2). It is also shown that the corresponding brackets control the obstructions to extending the first-order deformations (\S 3.5 and \S 3.6). Deformation complexes of symmetric categories and functors exhibit features of both \(E_{n+1}\)- (for \(n=2,1\)) and \(E_{\infty}\)-algebras (\S 3.3). In addition to the brackets, their cohomology possesses a Hodge-type decomposition. After looking at the combinatorics of such symmetric cosimplicial monoids (\S 2.11), the authors get a partial result on the interplay of these two structures (Theorem 2.72). \S 4 illustrates the results with examples coming from symmetric categories of representations of Lie algebras, showing that in characteristic zero the 1-bracket on the cohomology of the forgetful functor is the classical Schouten bracket. It is also shown that the 2-bracket of the cohomology of the identity functor is trivial in characteristic zero (Theorem 4.14), which is in total agreement with the very general prediction of M. Kontsevich on deformations of identity morphisms [\url{http://www.math.ksu.edu/~soibel/Book-vol1.ps}].