Postnikov classification conjecture for semi-weak monoidal 2-categories

Let GG be a group, HH an abelian group, and RR a commutative ring with unit group RR^*. Let BGB_G be the classifying space of GG, and for each cohomology class αH3(BG,H)\alpha\in H^3(B_G,H) let W(α)W(\alpha) be a CW-approximation of the principal fibration induced by a representative map BGBH3B_G\to B_H^3. Consider the semi-weak monoidal 2-category structures on N(G,H,R){\mathbb N}(G,H,R) and their equivalence classes. Postnikov classification conjecture. These equivalence classes correspond bijectively to pairs of cohomology classes

αH3(BG,H),β=βαH4(W(α),R).\alpha\in H^3(B_G,H),\qquad \beta=\beta_{\alpha}\in H^4(W(\alpha),R^*).

This is motivated by the Postnikov classification of connected 3-types with homotopy groups GG, HH, and RR^*, but the correspondence between the categorical structures and these cohomological data remains conjectural.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Marco Mackaay, “Finite groups, spherical 2-categories, and 4-manifold invariants”, arXiv:math/9903003 (1999).

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