Lectures on Algebraic Categorification

The term “categorification” was introduced by Louis Crane in 1995 and refers to the process of replacing set-theoretic notions by the corresponding category-theoretic analogues.

This text mostly concentrates on algebraical aspects of the theory, presented in the historical perspective, but also contains several topological applications, in particular, an algebraic (or, more precisely, representation-theoretical) approach to categorification. It consists of fifteen sections corresponding to fifteen one-hour lectures given during a Master Class at Aarhus University, Denmark in October 2010. There are some exercises collected at the end of the text and a rather extensive list of references. Video recordings of all (but one) lectures are available from the Master Class website.

The book provides an introductory overview of the subject rather than a fully detailed monograph. Emphasis is on definitions, examples and formulations of the results. Most proofs are either briefly outlined or omitted. However, complete proofs can be found by tracking references. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the basics of category theory, representation theory, topology and Lie algebra.