Cocompletions for non-abelian vertex tensor categories

Abstract

It was recently shown by Huang that the category of $C_1$-cofinite modules for any vertex operator algebra $V$ admits a natural braided monoidal structure. Here, we show that this structure extends uniquely to a vertex algebraically natural braided monoidal structure on the completion of the category of $C_1$-cofinite $V$-modules under filtered colimits, within the ambient category of all generalized $V$-modules. A critical point here is that we do not assume the category of $C_1$-cofinite $V$-modules is abelian or that $C_1$-cofinite modules are compact in the cocompletion, since these properties are not known to hold in general. Our results have many applications in the representation theory of vertex operator algebra extensions, since many vertex operator algebras can be realized as objects in the filtered colimit completion of the category of $C_1$-cofinite modules for a vertex operator subalgebra. Generalizing from the specific vertex algebraic setting, we also establish existence and uniqueness for extensions of monoidal structures along a dense inclusion $\mathscr{C}_0 \to \mathscr{C}$ from an abstract, essentially small monoidal category into a well-structured cocomplete target.