arXiv subjects

Kate Ponto

Publications and source records attributed to Kate Ponto.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

The linearity of traces in monoidal categories and bicategories

We show that in any symmetric monoidal category, if a weight for colimits is absolute, then the resulting colimit of any diagram of dualizable objects is again dualizable. Moreover, in this case, if an endomorphism of the colimit is induced by an endomorphism of the diagram, then its trace can be calculated as a linear combination of traces on the objects in the diagram. The formal nature of this result makes it easy to generalize to traces in homotopical contexts (using derivators) and traces in bicategories. These generalizations include the familiar additivity of the Euler characteristic and Lefschetz number along cofiber sequences, as well as an analogous result for the Reidemeister trace, but also the orbit-counting theorem for sets with a group action, and a general formula for homotopy colimits over EI-categories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2014

A model structure on GCat

We define a model structure on the category GCat of small categories with an action by a finite group G by lifting the Thomason model structure on Cat. We show there is a Quillen equivalence between GCat with this model structure and GTop with the standard model structure.

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arXiv2014

The additivity of traces in monoidal derivators

Motivated by traces of matrices and Euler characteristics of topological spaces, we expect abstract traces in a symmetric monoidal category to be "additive". When the category is "stable" in some sense, additivity along cofiber sequences is a question about the interaction of stability and the monoidal structure. May proved such an additivity theorem when the stable structure is a triangulation, based on new axioms for monoidal triangulated categories. In this paper we use stable derivators instead, which are a different model for "stable homotopy theories". We define and study monoidal structures on derivators, providing a context to describe the interplay between stability and monoidal structure using only ordinary category theory and universal properties. We can then perform May's proof of the additivity of traces in a closed monoidal stable derivator without needing extra axioms, as all the needed compatibility is automatic.

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arXiv2013

Mayer-Vietoris sequences in stable derivators

We show that stable derivators, like stable model categories, admit Mayer-Vietoris sequences arising from cocartesian squares. Along the way we characterize homotopy exact squares, and give a detection result for colimiting diagrams in derivators. As an application, we show that a derivator is stable if and only if its suspension functor is an equivalence.

math.CT↗

arXiv2013

The multiplicativity of fixed point invariants

We prove two general factorization theorems for fixed-point invariants of fibrations: one for the Lefschetz number and one for the Reidemeister trace. These theorems imply the familiar multiplicativity results for the Lefschetz and Nielsen numbers of a fibration. Moreover, the proofs of these theorems are essentially formal, taking place in the abstract context of bicategorical traces. This makes generalizations to other contexts straightforward.

math.AT↗

arXiv2013

Traces in symmetric monoidal categories

The purpose of this expository note is to describe duality and trace in a symmetric monoidal category, along with important properties (including naturality and functoriality), and to give as many examples as possible. Among other things, this note is intended as background for the generalizations to the context of bicategories and indexed monoidal categories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2012

Duality and traces for indexed monoidal categories

By the Lefschetz fixed point theorem, if an endomorphism of a topological space is fixed-point-free, then its Lefschetz number vanishes. This necessary condition is not usually sufficient, however; for that we need a refinement of the Lefschetz number called the Reidemeister trace. Abstractly, the Lefschetz number is a trace in a symmetric monoidal category, while the Reidemeister trace is a trace in a bicategory; in this paper we relate these contexts using indexed symmetric monoidal categories. In particular, we will show that for any symmetric monoidal category with an associated indexed symmetric monoidal category, there is an associated bicategory which produces refinements of trace analogous to the Reidemeister trace. This bicategory also produces a new notion of trace for parametrized spaces with dualizable fibers, which refines the obvious "fiberwise" traces by incorporating the action of the fundamental group of the base space. We also advance the basic theory of indexed monoidal categories, including introducing a string diagram calculus which makes calculations much more tractable. This abstract framework lays the foundation for generalizations of these ideas to other contexts.

math.CT↗

arXiv2012

Shadows and traces in bicategories

Traces in symmetric monoidal categories are well-known and have many applications; for instance, their functoriality directly implies the Lefschetz fixed point theorem. However, for some applications, such as generalizations of the Lefschetz theorem, one needs "noncommutative" traces, such as the Hattori-Stallings trace for modules over noncommutative rings. In this paper we study a generalization of the symmetric monoidal trace which applies to noncommutative situations; its context is a bicategory equipped with an extra structure called a "shadow." In particular, we prove its functoriality and 2-functoriality, which are essential to its applications in fixed-point theory. Throughout we make use of an appropriate "cylindrical" type of string diagram, which we justify formally in an appendix.

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arXiv2009

Relative fixed point theory

The Lefschetz fixed point theorem and its converse have many generalizations. One of these generalizations is to endomorphisms of a space relative to a fixed subspace. In this paper we define relative Lefschetz numbers and Reidemeister traces using traces in bicategories with shadows. We use the functoriality of this trace to identify different forms of these invariants and to prove a relative Lefschetz fixed point theorem and its converse.

math.AT↗

arXiv2008

Fixed point theory and trace for bicategories

The Lefschetz fixed point theorem follows easily from the identification of the Lefschetz number with the fixed point index. This identification is a consequence of the functoriality of the trace in symmetric monoidal categories. There are refinements of the Lefschetz number and the fixed point index that give a converse to the Lefschetz fixed point theorem. An important part of this theorem is the identification of these different invariants. We define a generalization of the trace in symmetric monoidal categories to a trace in bicategories with shadows. We show the invariants used in the converse of the Lefschetz fixed point theorem are examples of this trace and that the functoriality of the trace provides some of the necessary identifications. The methods used here do not use simplicial techniques and so generalize readily to other contexts.

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