The homotopy categorical crossed module of a CW-complex (Q869669)

A categorical crossed module is a generalization of the classical notion of a crossed module of groups. It is obtained essentially by replacing groups in the definition of a crossed module with categorical groups, i.e., monoidal groupoids where each object is invertible with respect to the monoidal structure. One of the main applications of classical crossed modules is their relationship to homotopy theory of CW-complexes: given a pointed CW-complex \(X\) one can construct a crossed module that represents the homotopy 2-type of \(X\). In this paper the authors show that this result can be generalized using categorical crossed modules. For a given pointed CW-complex \(X\) they construct the associated categorical crossed module \(\mathcal{W}(X, \ast)\), and show that this construction depends (up to an equivalence of categorical crossed modules) only on the homotopy 3-type of \(X\). In this process they also show that the homotopy groups \(\pi_{i}(X)\) for \(i=1, 2, 3\) can be recovered as certain algebraic invariants of the categorical crossed module \(\mathcal{W}(X, \ast)\). In a subsequent paper [Math. Nachr. 283, No.~4, 544--567 (2010; Zbl 1280.18004)], the authors show, again paralleling the classical theory of crossed modules, that it is also possible to pass in the opposite direction, by associating to a categorical crossed module its classifying space. These results taken together demonstrate that categorical crossed modules can be regarded as algebraic models of homotopy 3-types of connected topological spaces.