English

Clifford and Weyl algebras in symmetric tensor categories

Representation Theory 2026-07-18 v1 Category Theory Quantum Algebra Rings and Algebras

Abstract

Let C\mathcal C be a symmetric tensor category over an algebraically closed field k\mathbf k of characteristic 2\ne 2. We study Clifford and Weyl algebras of objects of C\mathcal C with a (skew-)symmetric bilinear form. When the form is non-degenerate, we establish simplicity and the Azumaya property for such algebras under suitable assumptions. We also compute Clifford and Weyl algebras in the Verlinde category Verp{\rm Ver}_p and use them to prove that if C\mathcal C is Frobenius exact then the Weyl algebra of a symplectic object of C\mathcal C with finite symmetric algebra is Azumaya. Using this, we introduce the symplectic Witt group SW(C)\mathcal S\mathcal W(\mathcal C), the subgroup of the Brauer group Br(C){\rm Br}(\mathcal C) consisting of Morita classes of such Azumaya algebras, and when C=Rep(G)sVec\mathcal C={\rm Rep}(G)\boxtimes{\rm sVec} for a finite group GG of order coprime to char(k){\rm char}(\mathbf k), express SW(C)\mathcal S\mathcal W(\mathcal C) in terms of second Stiefel-Whitney classes of orthogonal representations of GG.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.16910,
  title  = {Clifford and Weyl algebras in symmetric tensor categories},
  author = {Pavel Etingof},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.16910},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

22 pages, latex