$\otimes$-Frobenius functors and exact module categories
Abstract
We call a tensor functor between finite tensor categories -Frobenius if its left and right adjoints are isomorphic as -bimodule functors. We give several characterizations of this notion -- most notably, is -Frobenius if and only if the centralizer is unimodular. We use them to analyze how actions on module categories behave under pullback along . For perfect functors, we show that twisting a -module category along preserves exactness, and that pivotality, unimodularity, and sphericality are preserved whenever is -Frobenius (or, more generally, Frobenius with respect to ). Applications include: (i) explicit criteria for -Frobenius functors arising from bialgebra maps between finite-dimensional Hopf algebras; and (ii) criteria ensuring that objects of internal natural transformations are (symmetric) Frobenius algebras in . Along the way we show that central tensor functors are Frobenius iff they are -Frobenius and that any tensor functor between separable fusion categories is -Frobenius, answering questions of Flake-Laugwitz-Posur.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2501.16978,
title = {$\otimes$-Frobenius functors and exact module categories},
author = {David Jaklitsch and Harshit Yadav},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.16978},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
v3: 35 pages. Article shortened by removing parts of section 5. Final version - to appear in IMRN