Related papers: Central Extensions of Smooth 2-Groups and a Finite…
In earlier works, it was seen that a ${\mathbb Z}/2$ orbifold of the theory of 24 free two-dimensional chiral fermions admits various sporadic finite simple groups as global symmetry groups when viewed as an ${\cal N}=1$, ${\cal N}=2$, or…
The most natural notion of a simplicial nerve for a (weak) bicategory was given by Duskin, who showed that a simplicial set is isomorphic to the nerve of a $(2,1)$-category (i.e. a bicategory with invertible $2$-morphisms) if and only if it…
We propose a new homotopy invariant for Lie groupoids which generalizes the classical Lusternik-Schnirelmann category for topological spaces. We use a bicategorical approach to develop a notion of contraction in this context. We propose a…
Murray, Roberts and Wockel showed that there is no strict model of the string 2-group using the free loop group. Instead, they construct the next best thing, a coherent model for the string 2-group using the free loop group, with explicit…
The notion of geometric nerve of a 2-category (Street, \cite{refstreet}) provides a full and faithful functor if regarded as defined on the category of 2-categories and lax 2-functors. Furthermore, lax 2-natural transformations between lax…
We construct a representation of the string 2-group on a 2-vector space, aiming to establish it as the categorification of the spinor representation. Our model for 2-vector spaces is based on the Morita bicategory of von Neumann algebras,…
We present a finite-dimensional and smooth formulation of string structures on spin bundles. It uses trivializations of the Chern-Simons 2-gerbe associated to this bundle. Our formulation is particularly suitable to deal with string…
We prove the $r$-spin cobordism hypothesis in the setting of (weak) 2-categories for every positive integer $r$: The 2-groupoid of 2-dimensional fully extended $r$-spin TQFTs with given target is equivalent to the homotopy fixed points of…
The class of self-similar 2-manifolds consists of manifolds exhibiting a type of homogeneity akin to the 2-sphere and the Cantor set, and includes both the 2-sphere and the 2-sphere with a Cantor set removed. This chapter aims to provide a…
Just as knots and links can be algebraically described as certain morphisms in the category of tangles in 3 dimensions, compact surfaces smoothly embedded in R^4 can be described as certain 2-morphisms in the 2-category of `2-tangles in 4…
We set up a framework of 2-Hilbert bundles, which allows to rigorously define the "stringor bundle", a higher differential geometric object anticipated by Stolz and Teichner in an unpublished preprint about 20 years ago. Our framework…
We develop a string-net construction of a modular functor whose algebraic input is a pivotal bicategory; this extends the standard construction based on a spherical fusion category. An essential ingredient in our construction is a graphical…
This thesis contains various results on unitary 2-representations of finite groups and their 2-characters, as well as on pivotal structures for fusion categories. The motivation is extended topological quantum field theory (TQFT), where the…
If q : P -> M is a principal K-bundle over the compact manifold M, then any invariant symmetric V-valued bilinear form on the Lie algebra k of K defines a Lie algebra extension of the gauge algebra by a space of bundle-valued 1-forms modulo…
We investigate an interplay between some ideas in traditional gauge theory and certain concepts in fibered categories. We accomplish this by introducing a notion of a principal Lie 2-group bundle over a Lie groupoid and studying its…
We consider the existence problem of lifting a smooth contact map between Carnot groups to a smooth contact map between central extensions of the original groups. Our main result is a necessary and sufficient criterion formulated using the…
As is known, any realization of SU(2) in the phase space of a dynamical system can be generalized to accommodate the exceptional supergroup $D(2,1;\alpha)$, which is the most general $\mathcal{N}{=}\,4$ supersymmetric extension of the…
Recently, there has been growing interest in bicategorical models of programming languages, which are "proof-relevant" in the sense that they keep distinct account of execution traces leading to the same observable outcomes, while assigning…
We show that relations in Homflypt type skein theory of an oriented $3$-manifold $M$ are induced from a $2$-groupoid defined from the fundamental $2$-groupoid of a space of singular links in $M$. The module relations are defined by…
The bicategorical point of view provides a natural setting for many concepts in the representation theory of monoidal categories. We show that centers of twisted bimodule categories correspond to categories of 2-dimensional natural…