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We expand the theory of 2-classifiers, that are a 2-categorical generalization of subobject classifiers introduced by Weber. The idea is to upgrade monomorphisms to discrete opfibrations. We prove that the conditions of 2-classifier can be…

This paper introduces the concept of distorted monoidal categories, a generalization of monoidal and braided monoidal categories that supports non-reversible and direction-sensitive tensor structures. Unlike the classical setting, where the…

We show that B-model topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds are large N duals of matrix models, which in the planar limit naturally give rise to special geometry. These matrix models directly compute F-terms in an associated N=1…

Using the tensor category theory developed by Lepowsky, Zhang and the second author, we construct a braided tensor category structure with a twist on a semisimple category of modules for an affine Lie algebra at an admissible level. We…

Area-dependent quantum field theory is a modification of two-dimensional topological quantum field theory, where one equips each connected component of a bordism with a positive real number - interpreted as area - which behaves additively…

An equivalent description of a symmetric monoidal category is introduced in which, instead of separate associator and commutator isomorphisms satisfying the usual coherence axioms, we simply have associo-commutator isomorphisms satisfying…

We develop a systematic framework for understanding symmetries in topological phases in 2+1 dimensions using the string-net model, encompassing both gauge symmetries that preserve anyon species and global symmetries permuting anyon species,…

Affine structures on a Lie groupoid, including affine $k$-vector fields, $k$-forms and $(p,q)$-tensors are studied. We show that the space of affine structures is a 2-vector space over the space of multiplicative structures. Moreover, the…

A strict 2-group is a 2-category with one object in which all morphisms and all 2-morphisms have inverses. 2-Groups have been studied in the context of homotopy theory, higher gauge theory and Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT). In the…

We give a 3-categorical, purely formal argument explaining why on the category of Kleisli algebras for a lax monoidal monad, and dually on the category of Eilenberg-Moore algebras for an oplax monoidal monad, we always have a natural…

We explore various aspects of 2-form topological gauge theories in (3+1)d. These theories can be constructed as sigma models with target space the second classifying space $B^2G$ of the symmetry group $G$, and they are classified by…

We develop a ready-to-use comprehensive theory for (super) 2-vector bundles over smooth manifolds. It is based on the bicategory of (super) algebras, bimodules, and intertwiners as a model for 2-vector spaces. We discuss symmetric monoidal…

We construct a covariant open bosonic string field theory on multiple D-branes, which reduces to a non-Abelian group Yang-Mills gauge theory in the zero-slope limit. Making use of the first quantized open bosonic string in the proper time…

We discuss aspects of topological B-type D-branes in the framework of the derived category of coherent sheaves on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold X. We analyze the link between massless D-branes and monodromies in the CFT moduli space. A classification…

We present a unified framework for categorical systems theory which packages a collection of open systems, their interactions, and their maps into a symmetric monoidal loose right module of systems over a symmetric monoidal double category…

We consider algebras and Frobenius algebras, internal to a monoidal category, that are graded over a finite abelian group. For the case that A is a twisted group algebra in a linear abelian monoidal category we obtain a graded…

I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…

The work is devoted to the variety of $2$-dimensional algebras over an algebraically closed field. Firstly, we classify such algebras modulo isomorphism. Then we describe the degenerations and the closures of principal algebra series in the…

Just as links may be algebraically described as certain morphisms in the category of tangles, compact surfaces smoothly embedded in R^4 may be described as certain 2-morphisms in the 2-category of `2-tangles in 4 dimensions'. In this…

We review developments in the theory of multiple, parallel membranes in M-theory. After discussing the inherent difficulties pertaining to a maximally supersymmetric lagrangian formulation with the appropriate field content and symmetries,…