Is there a vector space whose dimension is the golden ratio? Of course not—the golden ratio is not an integer! But this can happen for generalizations of vector spaces—objects of a tensor category. The theory of tensor categories is a relatively new field of mathematics that generalizes the theory of group representations. It has deep connections with many other fields, including representation theory, Hopf algebras, operator algebras, low-dimensional topology (in particular, knot theory), homotopy theory, quantum mechanics and field theory, quantum computation, theory of motives, etc. This book gives a systematic introduction to this theory and a review of its applications. While giving a detailed overview of general tensor categories, it focuses especially on the theory of finite tensor categories and fusion categories (in particular, braided and modular ones), and discusses the main results about them with proofs. In particular, it shows how the main properties of finite-dimensional Hopf algebras may be derived from the theory of tensor categories. Many important results are presented as a sequence of exercises, which makes the book valuable for students and suitable for graduate courses. Many applications, connections to other areas, additional results, and references are discussed at the end of each chapter.

The articles highlight the latest advances and further research directions in a variety of subjects related to tensor categories and Hopf algebras. Primary topics discussed in the text include the classification of Hopf algebras, structures and actions of Hopf algebras, algebraic supergroups, representations of quantum groups, quasi-quantum groups, algebras in tensor categories, and the construction method of fusion categories.

Here is an introduction to the theory of quantum groups with emphasis on the spectacular connections with knot theory and Drinfeld's recent fundamental contributions. It presents the quantum groups attached to SL2 as well as the basic concepts of the theory of Hopf algebras. Coverage also focuses on Hopf algebras that produce solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation and provides an account of Drinfeld's elegant treatment of the monodromy of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations.

This self-contained book dedicated to Drinfeld's quasi-Hopf algebras takes the reader from the basics to the state of the art.

This volume contains the proceedings of the scientific session “Hopf Algebras and Tensor Categories”, held from July 27–28, 2017, at the Mathematical Congress of the Americas in Montreal, Canada. Papers highlight the latest advances and research directions in the theory of tensor categories and Hopf algebras. Primary topics include classification and structure theory of tensor categories and Hopf algebras, Gelfand-Kirillov dimension theory for Nichols algebras, module categories and weak Hopf algebras, Hopf Galois extensions, graded simple algebras, and bialgebra coverings.

An array of general ideas useful in a wide variety of fields. Starting from the foundations, this book illuminates the concepts of category, functor, natural transformation, and duality. It then turns to adjoint functors, which provide a description of universal constructions, an analysis of the representations of functors by sets of morphisms, and a means of manipulating direct and inverse limits. These categorical concepts are extensively illustrated in the remaining chapters, which include many applications of the basic existence theorem for adjoint functors. The categories of algebraic systems are constructed from certain adjoint-like data and characterised by Beck's theorem. After considering a variety of applications, the book continues with the construction and exploitation of Kan extensions. This second edition includes a number of revisions and additions, including new chapters on topics of active interest: symmetric monoidal categories and braided monoidal categories, and the coherence theorems for them, as well as 2-categories and the higher dimensional categories which have recently come into prominence.

This volume is based on talks given at the Workshop on Categorical Structures for Descent and Galois Theory, Hopf Algebras, and Semiabelian Categories held at The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences (Toronto, ON, Canada). The meeting brought together researchers working in these interrelated areas. This collection of survey and research papers gives an up-to-date account of the many current connections among Galois theories, Hopf algebras, and semiabeliancategories. The book features articles by leading researchers on a wide range of themes, specifically, abstract Galois theory, Hopf algebras, and categorical structures, in particular quantum categories and higher-dimensional structures. Articles are suitable for graduate students and researchers,specifically those interested in Galois theory and Hopf algebras and their categorical unification.

This research monograph integrates ideas from category theory, algebra and combinatorics. It is organized in three parts. Part I belongs to the realm of category theory. It reviews some of the foundational work of Benabou, Eilenberg, Kelly and Mac Lane on monoidal categories and of Joyal and Street on braided monoidal categories, and proceeds to study higher monoidal categories and higher monoidal functors. Special attention is devoted to the notion of a bilax monoidal functor which plays a central role in this work. Combinatorics and geometry are the theme of Part II. Joyal's species constitute a good framework for the study of algebraic structures associated to combinatorial objects. This part discusses the category of species focusing particularly on the Hopf monoids therein. The notion of a Hopf monoid in species parallels that of a Hopf algebra and reflects the manner in which combinatorial structures compose and decompose. Numerous examples of Hopf monoids are given in the text. These are constructed from combinatorial and geometric data and inspired by ideas of Rota and Tits' theory of Coxeter complexes. Part III is of an algebraic nature and shows how ideas in Parts I and II lead to a unified approach to Hopf algebras. The main step is the construction of Fock functors from species to graded vector spaces. These functors are bilax monoidal and thus translate Hopf monoids in species to graded Hopf algebras. This functorial construction of Hopf algebras encompasses both quantum groups and the Hopf algebras of recent prominence in the combinatorics literature. The monograph opens a vast new area of research. It is written with clarity and sufficient detail to make it accessible to advanced graduate students.

We investigate the relationship between the algebra of tensor categories and the topology of framed 3-manifolds. On the one hand, tensor categories with cer-tain algebraic properties determine topological invariants. We prove that fusion categories of nonzero global dimension are 3-dualizable, and therefore provide 3-dimensional 3-framed local field theories. We also show that all finite tensor cat-egories are 2-dualizable, and yield categorified 2-dimensional 3-framed local field theories. On the other hand, topological properties of 3-framed manifolds deter-mine algebraic equations among functors of tensor categories. We show that the 1-dimensional loop bordism, which exhibits a single full rotation, acts as the double dual autofunctor of a tensor category. We prove that the 2-dimensional belt-trick bordism, which unravels a double rotation, operates on any finite tensor category, and therefore supplies a trivialization of the quadruple dual. This approach pro-duces a quadruple-dual theorem for suitably dualizable objects in any symmetric monoidal 3-category. There is furthermore a correspondence between algebraic structures on tensor categories and homotopy fixed point structures, which in turn provide structured field theories; we describe the expected connection between piv-otal tensor categories and combed fixed point structures, and between spherical tensor categories and oriented fixed point structures.

This book gives an exposition of the relations among the following three topics: monoidal tensor categories (such as a category of representations of a quantum group), 3-dimensional topological quantum field theory, and 2-dimensional modular functors (which naturally arise in 2-dimensional conformal field theory). The following examples are discussed in detail: the category of representations of a quantum group at a root of unity and the Wess-Zumino-Witten modular functor. The idea that these topics are related first appeared in the physics literature in the study of quantum field theory. Pioneering works of Witten and Moore-Seiberg triggered an avalanche of papers, both physical and mathematical, exploring various aspects of these relations. Upon preparing to lecture on the topic at MIT, however, the authors discovered that the existing literature was difficult and that there were gaps to fill. The text is wholly expository and finely succinct. It gathers results, fills existing gaps, and simplifies some proofs. The book makes an important addition to the existing literature on the topic. It would be suitable as a course text at the advanced-graduate level.