English

Minimal nondegenerate extensions

Quantum Algebra 2026-02-18 v3 Category Theory Representation Theory

Abstract

We prove that every slightly degenerate braided fusion category admits a minimal nondegenerate extension, and hence that every pseudo-unitary super modular tensor category admits a minimal modular extension. This completes the program of characterizing minimal nondegenerate extensions of braided fusion categories. Our proof relies on the new subject of fusion 2-categories. We study in detail the Drinfel'd centre Z(Mod-B) of the fusion 2-category Mod-B of module categories of a braided fusion 1-category B. We show that minimal nondegenerate extensions of B correspond to certain trivializations of Z(Mod-B). In the slightly degenerate case, such trivializations are obstructed by a class in H5(K(Z2,2);k×)\mathrm{H}^5(K(\mathbb{Z}_2, 2); k^\times) and we use a numerical invariant -- defined by evaluating a certain two-dimensional topological field theory on a Klein bottle -- to prove that this obstruction always vanishes. Along the way, we develop techniques to explicitly compute in braided fusion 2-categories which we expect will be of independent interest. In addition to the model of Z(Mod-B) in terms of braided B-module categories, we develop a computationally useful model in terms of certain algebra objects in B. We construct an S-matrix pairing for any braided fusion 2-category, and show that it is nondegenerate for Z(Mod-B). As a corollary, we identify components of Z(Mod-B) with blocks in the annular category of B and with the homomorphisms from the Grothendieck ring of the M\"uger centre of B to the ground field.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2105.15167,
  title  = {Minimal nondegenerate extensions},
  author = {Theo Johnson-Freyd and David Reutter},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.15167},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

66 pages. final version

R2 v1 2026-06-24T02:40:23.189Z