PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

BRUCE W. WESTBURY Abstract.

Shall we by Topology cast out Topology? 1. Introduction

[Tut79]

In this paper we study the use of diagrams as a setting for tensor calculations. The rst use of a graphical notation for algebraic calculations that we are aware of is the graphical method developed by Cliord for the description of invariants and covariants of binary forms. A modern account of this method is given in [OS89] and [Olv99, Chapter 7]. However the use of graphical notation for tensor calculations originated in mathematical physics and specically in the work of Roger Penrose on spin networks. This is a calculus for recoupling theory and 6j-symbols. This method was developed further by Cvitanovic in [Cvi77],[Cvi84],[Cvi] where the diagrams are referred to as birdtracks; and also in [Ken82]. There is an account of this method in [PR87, Chapter 2] which refers to abstract indices. My impression is that other people in this community may have made use of diagrams privately but that in their publications they reverted to index notation for tensor calculations. More recent papers in the same vein are [Wes03], [Kim] and [MT06]. The situation changed abruptly with the introduction of quantum groups. The simplest quantum group is Uq (sl(2)). The representation theory of this Hopf algebra can be understood using a q-analogue of the spin-network calculus. There are accounts of this in [KL94], [CFS95] and [FK97]. One application of this is the construction of a series of link invariants the simplest of which is the Jones polynomial. Following this it was understood that there is an intimate relation between abstract tensor categories and topology in two (and three) dimensions; see [JS91], [FY89], [Shu94]. The next development was the work of Greg Kuperberg in [Kup96]. This paper gives, for each of three simple Lie algebras of rank two, a graphical calculus for the invariant tensors of the fundamental representations. This gives a description of the categories of invariant tensors in terms of generators and relations. This raises the problem
Date: November 9, 2007.
1

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

of extending this to higher rank simple Lie algebras. This problem is solved for the rank three simple Lie algebra so(7) in [Wes06]. A separate and independent development was the work by Vaughan Jones on planar algebras, see [Jon] and [Bis02]. The motivation for the introduction of planar algebras is that a planar algebra is an algebraic object and that there is a planar algebra associated to a nite index subfactor. This planar algebra is a powerful invariant of the subfactor. This raises the problem of describing the planar algebra of a subfactor in terms of generators and relations. These two problems both involve working with generators and relations where instead of words we have planar graphs. The original motivation for this paper was the desire to develop algorithms for these calculations and to implement them. For example, the paper [SW06] gives a version of the Knuth-Bendix algorithm for planar graphs. The Knuth-Bendix algorithm takes a nite set of rewrite rules and completes it to a conuent set of rewrite rules. The accepted denition of a planar graph is not suited to this. The standard approach to dening a planar graph is that it is an isotopy equivalence class of a graph embedded in a surface. Usually this is all that is said. However it seems that most authors have in mind not an embedding of a graph but instead a closed subset of the surface such that the surface has a nite open cover with a prescribed set of possibilities for each open set. Then there is a choice of the structure of a surface; the usual choices are smooth or piecewise-linear. However most of the illustrations produced using computer graphics are based on curves which are piecewise polynomial with continuous rst derivative. The accepted view on this is that none of these choices matter since we are only considering graphs up to isotopy. This means that a graph has an innite dimensional group of automorphisms and that we take the orbits of the action of the connected component of this group. Then there are the operations. The basic operation is to sew (or glue) along two intervals or two circles in the boundary. The meaning here is that we choose a representative of each isotopy class so that the boundaries match up (in the smooth category this means either using collars or else smoothing corners); then sew (or glue) these representatives and take the isotopy class of the result. It takes some work to show that this is independent of the various choices and this is invariably omitted. The analogous result in higher dimensions is false; for example, the naive generalisations of this to dene weak ncategories of cobordisms or tangles fail because of this issue. The original purpose of this paper was to provide an alternative denition of planar graph. The requirements were that the denition should be combinatorial; that the equivalence relation should be isomorphism; and that the basic operation of sewing (or glueing) should be dened. In this paper we dene cyclic graphs and show that all

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

these requirements are met. This gives a simpler and more rigorous foundation for the subject. However we still nd the usual diagrams more appealing and we will continue to make use of them. The secondary purpose of this paper is to show that the algebraic structure that is obtained by taking planar graphs with the sewing (or glueing) operation has been reinvented several times. Specically, the following are all equivalent (in the sense that they are objects of categories which are all equivalent): spherical categories, in [BW99], spiders, in [Kup96], planar algebras, in [Jon]. This structure is called a Clebsch-Gordan operad in [GK94] and is the operadic formulation in [FK97]. Furthermore this is an example of a generalized operad as dened in [BM06]. Moreover this also makes it clear that the work in this paper adheres to their maxim: One can and must approach operadic constructions from various directions and with various stocks of analogies. There is a version of these constructions using abstract graphs and this corresponds to abstract indices, in [PR87, Chapter 2]. There is a brief account of this in the nal section.

2. Cyclic graphs In this section we introduce cyclic graphs and sewing which is the basic operation on cyclic graphs.

2.1. Closed surfaces. An elementary construction of a surface is to start with a nite collection of disjoint polygons. Each polygon is taken to be the convex hull of its vertices in the Euclidean plane. Then we identify the edges in pairs using a linear homeomorphism. If each identication is orientation reversing then the surface is oriented. Then we associate to the surface the following combinatorial data. Take the 1-complex of the edges of the polygons (after the identications). Let F be the set of pairs consisting of a vertex contained in an edge. Then there is an involution on F since each edge has two vertices. There is also a bijection which moves an edge clockwise around a vertex. Then the oriented surface can be recovered from the set F with these two maps.

2.2. Boundaries. A directed graph consists of two sets V and E and two maps h , t : E V . A homomorphism of directed graphs : consists of two set maps V : V V and E : E E such that the following two

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

diagrams commute: V V h h

V V t t

E E E E For any directed graph the opposite graph op is dened by Vop = V Eop = E hop = t top = h Denition 2.1. A boundary B is a directed graph hB , tB : EB VB such that hB and tB are inclusions. A boundary B is closed if hB and tB are both bijections. Denition 2.2. The dual of a boundary B is B op , the opposite directed graph. A homomorphism of boundaries is a homomorphism of the underlying directed graphs. Denition 2.3. If B is a boundary then we dene B to be B+ B where B+ is the complement of the image of hB and B is the complement of the image of tB . A directed graph has a geometric realisation which is a 1-complex. Each connected component of the geometric realisation of a boundary is either a point, an interval or a circle. Usually we have B+ B = . In this case B is an oriented (or signed) set and the geometric realisation is a 1-manifold. 2.3. Cyclic graphs. Denition 2.4. A cyclic graph consists of disjoint sets C , B , E and a subset I (B E ) together with : Two inclusions h , t : B C with the same image. An involution e : E E . A bijection c : B E B E . such that if x I then xe B or xce B or xe = xc and such that c restricts to an involution on I . A cyclic graph is closed if C = . In this case B = and I = and so the set E has an involution e and a bijection c as in the Introduction. If is a cyclic graph then is a boundary. This is constructed as follows. The set E is B and the set V is the common image of h and t . The map h is h and the map t is t . In this paper we will only consider a restricted form of homomorphism between cyclic graphs.

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

{emb}

Denition 2.1. An embedding of cyclic graphs is an inclusion : E E such that c = c and xe = xe for all x for which both of these are dened. Denition 2.5. Let be a cyclic graph. Then the dual cyclic graph is op . This is constructed as follows. The sets are the same sets so that Cop = C , hop = t , Bop = B , top = h , Eop = E , eop = e , Iop = I cop = c1 The maps are dened by There is the following compatibility between taking duals and the boundary. If is a cyclic graph then the boundaries ()op and (op ) are canonically isomorphic. 2.4. Geometric realisation. In this section we explain the correspondence between cyclic graphs and graphs in a surface up to isotopy. This is included to justify the proposal that cyclic graphs are a substitute for the usual notion of a graphs in a surface up to isotopy. Denition 2.2. There is a directed graph with vertices the set C B E The arrows are dened as follows. For each x B we have edges x xh and x xt . For each pair x, y E with xe = y and ye = x we have an undirected edge x y. For each x B E we have an edge x xc . Next we dene a cyclic ordering of the edges incident to each vertex. This ordering is given by taking the clockwise ordering of the vertices in Figure 1. In this Figure a vertex labeled C is an element of C , a vertex labeled B is an element of B , a vertex labeled E is an element of E , a vertex labeled I is an element of I , a vertex labeled V is an element of E I , a vertex labeled U is an element of B E . This is a cyclic graph and so corresponds to an oriented surface. The geometric realisation of is obtained from this oriented surface by omitting all polygons whose edges are all labeled h or t. This gives an oriented surface with boundary. Next we draw a piecewise linear graph in this surface. This surface contains some polygons with all edges labeled c and some digons with both edges labeled e. For each of these polygons choose a point in the interior of the polygon and connect it to each vertex of the polygon by a straight line. This gives a graph in a surface. Moreover the isotopy equivalence class of this graph in a surface is independent of the choices involved in the construction. Hence we have a well-dened map from cyclic graphs to isotopy equivalence classes of graphs in surfaces.

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

C B h C t U c V e E c U V B

t c U

B c

h U

c I c I
{gr}

Figure 1. Vertices B t E C h e E c B
{bu}

c c

c E e c c E

h C t

Figure 2. Example Now suppose we are given a graph in a surface. Assume that every loop contains a vertex and that no edge has both endpoints on the boundary. This assumption does not involve any loss of generality since we can put a vertex in the middle of any edge which fails either of these conditions. Let B be the set of boundary points and let O be the set of interior vertices. Let E B be the set of pairs (e, v) where e is an edge of the graph, v is an interior vertex and v is incident to e. This set has a bijection c which moves each pair clockwise about v. For each (e, v) if the other vertex incident to e is a boundary point then (e, v) B and if the the other vertex is u then (e, v) E and we put (e, v)e = (e, u). This denes a cyclic graph. Moreover the cyclic graph only depends on the isotopy class of the graph in a surface. These two maps are inverse bijections between cyclic graphs and isotopy classes of graphs in a surface. 2.5. Normal form. Dene a pre cyclic graph by the same data as for a cyclic graph but without the nal condition. If is a pre cyclic graph

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

t C c h B t Figure 3. Example C c I I c e c I C c

h C c t

c C h

C I C
{ex}

Figure 4. Exceptions then the set R() is the set R() = {x I |xe B and xe = xc } / Then a pre cyclic graph is a cyclic graph if and only if R() = . Figure 4 shows two ways in which elements of R() can arise. In fact these are the only possibilities. Next we describe a construction for simplifying a pre cyclic graph. Let be a pre cyclic graph with an element x R(). Then we construct a pre cyclic graph /x. Put y = xc . Then there are two cases; y E and y B . Assume y E . The sets are dened by C/x = C , B/x = B , E/x = E , I/x = I /{x, y}

The maps are dened as follows h/x = h , t/x = t , c/x = c The involution c/x : I/x I/x is the restriction of the map c : I I . The involution e/x is dened by ye if u = xe ue/x = xe if u = ye ue otherwise This is illustrated in Figure 5.

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

c c

Figure 5. Internal simplication

{si}

C t E e x c c y h C

C t B h C

{sb}

Figure 6. Boundary simplication Assume y B . The sets are dened by C/x = C , E/x = E , I/x = I /{x, y} and the set B/x is obtained from B by deleting the element y and inserting the element x. The maps h/x , t/x are dened as follows uh/x = uh yh if u = x if u = x ut/x = ut yt if u = x if u = x

The map c/x is c . The involution c/x : I/x I/x is the restriction of the map c : I I . The involution e/x is dened by ue/x = xe ue if u = ye otherwise

This is illustrated in Figure 6. If y R(/x) then the preimage is an element of R(). This includes R(/x) in R() as a proper subset and so |R(/x)| < |R()|. This shows that if we are given a pre cyclic graph then we obtain a cyclic graph by a nite sequence of simplications. Next we show that this cyclic graph is independent of the choice of the sequence. Construct a directed graph with vertices pre cyclic graphs and a directed edge /x for all and all x R(). We have already observed that the simplications are terminal. This means that this

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

is the directed graph of a partially ordered set and that the partially ordered set has no innite descending sequence. Therefore in order to show that this is globally conuent it is sucient to show that this is locally conuent. This is the diamond lemma from [New42]. The statement that the simplications are locally conuent is the following statement. For any pre cyclic graph with two distinct elements x, y R(), there is a pre cyclic graph which can be obtained from both /x and /y by a nite sequence of simplications. The typical situation is that the image of y is an element of R(/x) and x is an element of R(/y). In this situation the pre cyclic graphs (/x)/y and (/y)/x are the same so we take to be this pre cyclic graph. Put x = xc and y = yc. Then the exceptions to the typical situation are: (1) y = xe , x = ye , y = x e , x = y e . (2) y = xe , x = y e , y = x e , x = ye. (3) y = xe , x = ye , y B , y B . In each of these situations the pre cyclic graphs /x and /y are the same so we take to be this pre cyclic graph. 2.6. Labels. In this construction we will consider edge labeled cyclic graphs. It is also possible to label the vertices as well. The usual notion of an edge labeling is given by taking a nite set with an involution . Then an edge labeling of a closed cyclic graph F is a function : F such that i = . Here we consider a generalisation and take to be a directed graph. with an ant-involution . This means that : E E and : V V are involutions and that they satisfy the conditions h = t and t = h. An edge labeling of a pre cylic graph F consists of set maps E : F E and V : F V . The map V is required to be invariant under ic so that it gives a labeling of the faces of F by V . The rst condition on E is that it is compatible with taking duals. This means that iE = E . The other condition on E is that E t = V and E h = iV . A less formal way to express this is that for each x F , V (x) V (ix) is an edge in . 2.7. Sewing. The data for sewing consists of a cyclic graph , a boundary B and an embedding : B B op . Given sewing data we will construct a cyclic graph / together with an embedding (see Definition 2.1) /. Given sewing data then we have embeddings + : B and : B op such that the inclusions : VB C and : EB B have disjoint images. First we construct a pre cyclic graph. First we construct the sets. Dene C/ to be (C /(VBBop )) B.
E (x)

10

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

Dene B/ to be B / ((EBBop )). Dene E/ to be E EB EB . Dene I/ to be I EB EB . Next we construct the maps The maps h/ and t/ are dened by xh/ = v xh if xh = (v) , xt/ = if xh (VBBop ) / v xt if xt = (v) if xt (VBBop ) /

The map e/ is dened as follows. For y EBBop put ye/ = (y) and for x E I dene xe/ = y xe if (y) = x otherwise

The map c/ is the restriction of c . Let r be the involution on EB EB which sends an element in one subset EB to the same element in the other subset EB . Then c/ is dened to be c r. Now simplify this pre cyclic graph to obtain a cyclic graph. This is the required cyclic graph. The canonical embedding / arises from the construction of E/ from E .
{ass}

2.8. Associativity. The basic property of sewing is the following associativity condition. Assume that we are given a cyclic graph , two boundaries B1 and B2 and embeddings i : Bi Biop . for i = 1, 2. Put B = B1 B2 and assume that = 1 2 : B B op is also an op embedding. Then there is an embedding 2 : B2 B2 /1 dened as the composite op 2 : B2 B2 /1 Then the associativity condition is that (/1 )/2 and / are isomorphic and the isomorphism is compatible with the embeddings (/1 )/2 and /. Then it follows that the cyclic graphs (/1 )/2 and (/2 )/1 are isomorphic and that the isomorphism respects the embeddings of . 2.9. Cobordisms. In this section we construct a 2-category with duals. The intuition for this is that this is a 2-category of cobordisms of surfaces with corners. This is a digression since we will not make use of this construction in this paper. Let be a directed graph with anti-involution which acts as the identity on vertices. Then we have the free category on whose morphisms are directed paths in . Then the anti-involution on extends uniquely to an anti-involution on this category. The intuition for this

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

11

is that taking the geometric realisations of morphisms gives a cobordism category whose objects are 0-manifolds and whose morphisms are 1-manifolds and the identity maps. Let B1 and B2 be 1-morphisms. Then a 2-morphism B1 B2 op is a labeled cyclic graph with boundary B1 B2 . Then the composition Hom(B1 , B2 ) Hom(B2 , B2 ) Hom(B1 , B3 ) is constructed using sewing. Let 1 Hom(B1 , B2 ) and 2 Hom(B2 , B3 ). Put op op = 1 2 . Then = B1 B2 B2 B3 so we have an inclusion of op B2 B2 in . This gives sewing data and the boundary after sewing is op B1 B3 so this gives the composite in Hom(B1 , B3 ). The associativity of this composition follows from the associativity of sewing discussed in 2.8. Let B be a boundary so we have a directed graph hB , tB : EB VB such that hB and tB are inclusions. Assume that the geometric realisation is an interval. Then we construct the boundary B B op . Let VB be the set v0 , . . . , vn and EB the set b1 , . . . , bn . Then we take B to be the union of the sets v1 , . . . , vn and v1 , . . . , vn . Take C to be the union of the sets b0 , . . . , bn and b0 , . . . , bn with the identications b0 = bn and bn = b0 . Then we put vi h = bi , vi t = bi1 , vi h = bi1 , vi t = bi . The set E is empty and I = B . Then the involution c on E is dened by vi c = vni , vi c = vni . There is a second composition of 2-morphisms. This is constructed using sewing with boundaries with no edges. Let 1 Hom(B1 , B1 ) op op and 2 Hom(B2 , B2 ). Let B1 , B1 : C1 C2 and B2 , B2 : C2 C3 . op Put = 1 2 . Then we have sewing data C2 C2 . The composite is constructed by sewing. The proof that these compositions satisfy the conditions for a strict 2-category are omitted.

3. Spiders In this section we give the denition of a linear spider. This is based on the denition of spider in [Kup96]. Moreover the two denitions are equivalent in the case that the -category has one object. 3.1. Spiders. A -category is a category with an anti-involution such that is the identity map on objects. In particular, if a is any morphism then the composite aa is dened. A -category with one object gives a monoid with an anti-involution and conversely any monoid with anti-involution gives a -category with one object. Let (M, ) be a -category and let K be a commutative ring. The data is a K-module W (a) for each morphism a M such that the
{sp}

12

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

source and target of a are equal. The operations are (1) {rot1} (2) {prod1} (3) {st1} (4) {un1} W (ab) W (ba) W (a) W (b) W (ab) W (abb c) W (ac) W (ac) W (abb c)

Then we have a number of compatibility conditions. The map W (ae) W (ea) is the identity map on W (a). The following are identity maps (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) W (aee b) W (ab) W (ab) W (aee b) W (abc) W (cab) W (bca) W (abc) W (abc) W (abb bc) W (abc) W (abc) W (abb bc) W (abc)

The following composite is the identity map The following composites are identity maps

These are sometimes known as the two zig-zag identities. The following two maps are equal (10) (11) (12) (13) W (ad) W (abcc b d) W (ad) W (abb d) W (abcc b d) W (abcc b d) W (ad) W (abcc b d) W (abb d) W (ad)

The following two maps are equal

The following diagram commutes W (abb cdd e) W (acdde) (14) W (abb ce) W (ace) The following diagram commutes W (ace) W (acdd e) (15) W (abb ce) W (abb cdd e) The following diagram commutes W (a) W (b) W (c) W (ab) W (c) (16) W (a) W (bc) W (abc)

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

13

The following diagrams commute W (abb cd) W (dabb c) W (acd) W (dac)

(17)

(18) {rotc3}

W (acd) W (abb cd) W (dac) W (dabb c)

The denition of a plain spider is obtained by requiring each W (a) to be a set and replacing the tensor product in (2) and (16) by the product of sets. Any plain spider gives a linear spider by replacing the set W (a) by the free K-module on this set and extending the maps by (multi)-linearity. A natural generalisation of the denition which includes both of these cases is to take a monoidal category M and then to take W (a) to be an object of M and then to replace the tensor product of K-modules by tensor product in M. This generalisation can be taken further. Note that we can write the denition using multi-linear maps to avoid any tensor products. This shows that we can dene spiders enriched in a multicategory (a.k.a. coloured operad). Further generalisations are possible using the general theory of enrichment in [Lei02]. 3.2. Example. In this section we will construct a plain spider using cyclic graphs. This is the main construction of the paper. Let W be the set of (isomorphism classes of) edge labeled cyclic graphs whose geometric realisation is a disc. Then each element of W has one boundary component and the boundary edges are a directed cycle in . Let W be the set of pairs (w, m) where w W and m is a total order on the boundary edges of w compatible with the cyclic order. In terms of the geometric realisation this means choosing a basepoint on the boundary of the disc which is not one of the boundary points of the embedded graph. This choice also corresponds to choosing a directed path in whose start and end points are equal and such that the associated directed cycle is the boundary of w. Then we have a map from W to the set of directed paths in the directed graph . If a is a directed path then dene W (a) to be the bre of this map. Note that W (a) will be empty if the start and end points of a are distinct. Next we have to dene the structure maps. Let a and b be two directed paths in such that ab and ba are both directed paths. Then ab and ba each have the same start and end points. Then ab and ba

14

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

h I t
{cup}

C c c C

t I h

Figure 7. Cup both arise from the same directed cycle in and correspond to dierent choices of the total order. This map is referred to as rotation. The maps W (a)W (b) W (ab) are constructed using sewing. Take an element of W (a) and an element of W (b) and form the disjoint union . This has sewing data consisting of two points of C one in each component. Then sewing gives an element of W (ab). and W (abb c) W (ac) are constructed using sewing. The operations W (abb c) W (ac) and W (ac) W (abb c) are both dened using sewing and the cylic graph in Figure 7. Let W (abb c). Let B be the boundary of the cyclic graph in Figure 7 regarded as an interval. Then we have have an inclusion of B op in . This gives sewing data in the disjoint union and sewing gives an element of W (ac). Let W (ac). Let B be one of the points marked C in the boundary of the cyclic graph in Figure 7. Then we have have an inclusion of B op in . This gives sewing data in the disjoint union and sewing gives an element of W (abb c). Then the claim is that these maps satisfy the conditions for a plain spider. Several of the conditions follow from the associativity property in 2.8. 4. Spherical categories In this section we give a denition of a strict 2-category with strict duals. This is a generalisation of the denition of a strict spherical category given in [BW99] which is the special case in which the 2category has one object. 4.1. Duals. Let x and y be objects in a monoidal category C. Then y is left dual to x and x is right dual to y means that we are given morphisms e : y x 1 and i : 1 x y such that the following two diagrams commute 1x xyx x1 xyx (19) x x1 x 1x An alternative denition is that we have natural isomorphisms Hom(a x, b) Hom(a, b y). Here natural means that the following diagrams =

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

15

commute Hom(a, b) Hom(b x, c) Hom(a, b) Hom(b, c y) (20) Hom(a x, c) Hom(a, c y)

(21)

Hom(a x, b) Hom(b, c) Hom(a, b y) Hom(b, c) Hom(a x, c) Hom(a, c y)

The equivalence between is these denitions is as follows. Given natural isomorphisms put a = 1 and b = x. Then we have natural isomorphisms Hom(x, x) Hom(1, xy) so we take i to be the element = corresponding to the identity map. Put b = 1 and a = y then we have natural isomorphisms Hom(y x, 1) Hom(y, y) so we take e to be = the element corresponding to the identity map. Conversely given elements i and e then we construct inverse natural isomorphisms by (a x y) (a a x y b y) (a b y) (a x b y x b) The denition of a pivotal category is given in [FY89]. A pivotal category is a -category such that for all objects x, x is left and right dual to x. Here we require that is an anti-involution of monoidal categories. In addition we require that both of the following identities hold for all x, (ex ) = ix (ix ) = ex 4.2. Spiders from spherical categories. First we assume we are given a spherical category and then we construct a spider. Let M be the set of isomorphism classes of objects of the category. Then M is a monoid with product given by the tensor product. This monoid has an anti-involution given by the -functor. Construct a vector space for each object by W (a) = Hom(e, a). The map W (a) W (b) W (a b) is the tensor product. The map W (abb c) W (ac) is dened by composition with 1a eb 1c . The map W (ac) W (abb c) is dened to be the composite W (ac) W (ca) W (cabb ) W (abb c) where the rst and third arrows are rotations and the middle arrow is tensoring with ib . To dene rotation. Note that we have inverse isomorphisms Hom(e, b a ) Hom(a, b) Hom(a, b) Hom(e, b a )
{eqv1}
g gx be f ai f y

16

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

The rst map sends f : e b a to the composite a b a a b The second map sends g : a b to the composite e a a b a Similarly we have inverse isomorphisms Hom(e, a b) Hom(a, b) Hom(a, b) Hom(e, a b)
i ga f a be

The rst map sends f : e a b to the composite a a a b b The second map sends g : a b to the composite e a a b a This gives isomorphisms W (ba ) Hom(a, b) W (a b). = =
{eqv2}
i ga ai eb

4.3. Spherical categories from spiders. Now we assume we are given a spider and we construct a spherical category. Given a spider we dene Hom(a, b) to be W (a b). The composition Hom(a, b) Hom(b, c) Hom(a, c) is given by the composition W (a b) W (b c) W (a bb c) W (a c) The unit in Hom(a, a) is given by the inclusion W (e) W (a a). Then we can check that we have a category. The tensor product Hom(a, b) Hom(c, d) Hom(a c, b d) is dened by the composite W (a b) W (dc ) W (a bdc ) W (c a bd) Then we check that this is a monoidal category. The functor is dened by either of the following composites (22) (23) W (a b) W (a ba a) W (aa ba ) W (ba ) W (a b) W (b ba b) W (ba bb ) W (ba )

Then we can check that this is an anti-involution of monoidal categories. The isomorphisms Hom(a x, b) Hom(a, b x ) are the isomor= phisms W (x a b) W (a bx ). Then we can check that these are = natural isomorphisms. These are the conditions for a pivotal category. Then we can check that this is in fact a spherical category.

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

17

5. Planar algebras In this section we discuss the planar algebras of [Jon]. The original motivation was the construction discussed in [Bis02] which associates a planar algebra to a nite index subfactor. Planar algebras are algebras for a multicategory. Multicategories were introduced in [Lam69] and are also known as non-symmetric coloured operads. A non-symmetric operad is a multicategory with one colour. For more information on multicategories see [Lei04, Chapters 2,4,6]. In [Jon] planar algebras are dened as algebras over a multicategory with two colours. In this paper we modify this denition to allow for more colours. The data for a multicategory consists of a set C0 whose elements are called colours; for each n and a1 , . . . , an , a C0 a set C(a1 , . . . , an ; a) whose elements are called arrows; for each n, k1 , . . . kn and a, ai , aj C0 i a function C(a1 , . . . , an ; a) C(a1 , . . . , ak1 ; a1 ) . . . C(a1 , . . . , akn ; an ) 1 1 n n C(a1 , . . . , ak1 , . . . , a1 , . . . , akn ; a) 1 1 n n called composition and written (, 1 , . . . , n ) (1 , . . . , n ) For each a C0 an element 1a C(a; a). The conditions on this data are the associativity condition that
k 1 1 k 1 (1 , . . . , 1 1 ), . . . , n (n , . . . , nn ) k 1 1 k = ( (1 , . . . , n )) (1 , . . . , 1 1 , . . . , n , . . . , nn )

whenever these composites are dened; and the unit condition that (1a1 , . . . , 1an ) = = 1a () for all arrows : a1 , . . . , an a. An operad is a multicategory for which C0 has one element. Any monoidal category gives a multicategory T by taking T (b1 bn ; a) = Hom(b1 bn , a) Then we will construct a multicategory P . The set of colours is the set of directed paths in whose start and end points are the same. The rst step in the construction of the multicategory is the construction of a set P (a1 , . . . , an ; a) of cyclic graphs for all objects a1 , . . . , an and a. It is more convenient to describe the set of geometric realisations of these cyclic graphs. First draw a large circle with centre on the x-axis. Then inside it put n disjoint discs each with centre on the x-axis. The outside circle and the boundaries of the n inside discs are all given a basepoint by taking the leftmost of the two points of intersection of the circle with

18

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

the x-axis. Let be the large disc with the interiors of the inside discs removed. Each ai and a is a directed cycle in the directed graph. Let |a| be the number of edges in the cycle a and similarly for ai . Mark |a| points on the outside circle and mark |ai | points on the i-th inside circle. The marked points are required to be distinct and none of them is the basepoint. Next draw arcs in with no intersections such that each arc connects two marked points and each marked point is an endpoint of precisely one arc. In particular if |ai | + + |an | + |a| is odd then this is not possible. The connected components of the complement in of these arcs are called regions. These diagrams are considered up to isotopy of preserving the basepoints. Next label the diagram. Each arc is directed and labelled by an edge of the directed graph. Each region is labelled by a vertex of the directed graph. We require that the labels on the regions on the two sides of an edge are the source and target of the label on the edge. A diagram need not admit a colouring satisfying these conditions. Example 5.1. In [Jon] the regions are labelled black and white. In this case the directed graph has two vertices and one undirected edge connecting them. There is a labelled cyclic graph associated to each isotopy class of labelled diagrams. These are the elements of the set P (a1 , . . . , an ; a). These labeled cyclic graphs have closed boundary, are planar and the set E is empty. In fact they are characterised by these properties. Then to construct the multicategory it remains to construct the compositions. These are constructed using sewing. Assume we are given P (a1 , . . . , an ; a) and i P (a1 , . . . , aki ; ai ) for 1 i n. Then i i take the union 1 n . Then the composite is dened by sewing using the sewing data associated to a1 an . The identities are cyclic graphs with E empty and whose geometric realisations are cylinders or annuli. The proof that this composition and identities satisfy the conditions for a multicategory are omitted. A plain planar algebra is a map of multicategories from P to the multicategory of sets. Let K be a commutative ring. Then a linear planar algebra over K is a map of multicategories from P to the multicategory of K-modules. Equivalently, a plain planar algebra can be dened as having a set W (a) for each a and for each P (a1 , . . . , an ; a) a map W () : W (a1 ) W (an ) W (a) which satisfy associativity conditions. We also require units which satisfy the unital conditions. There is a planar algebra whose set W (a) is the set of labeled cyclic graphs whose boundary is a and whose geometric realisation is a disc.

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

19

Figure 8. Composition

{comp}

Figure 9. Tensor product

{tensor}

Figure 10. Duals The operations W () are constructed using sewing. The associativity conditions follow from the associativity in 2.8. 5.1. Spherical categories from planar algebras. In this section we show how to construct a spherical category and a spider given a planar algebra. In this section we revert to using diagrams rather than cyclic graphs. First we show that the operations in a spherical category are particular cases of operations in a planar algebra. The composition is given in Figure 8, the tensor product is given in Figure 9, the duality functor is given in Figure 10 and the adjunctions are given in Figure 11. Next we show that the spider operations in 3.1 are particular cases of operations in a planar algebra. The operation (1) is shown in Figure 12; the operation (2) is shown in Figure 13; the operation (3) is shown in Figure 14; and the operation (4) is shown in Figure 15.

{duals}

{p2s}

20

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

Figure 11. Adjunctions

{adj}

Figure 12. Rotate

{rot}

Figure 13. Join

{join}

Figure 14. Stitch Given a planar algebra we have constructed both a spider and a spherical category. These correspond under the equivalence in 4.2 and 4.3.
{s2p}

{stitch}

5.2. Planar algebras from spherical categories. In this section we sketch the construction of a planar algebra from a spherical category or spider. Here we show that given a spider or spherical category we can construct a planar algebra. This is an inverse to the construction of a spider or spherical category from a planar algebra and this this shows that the categories of spiders, spherical categories and planar algebras are all equivalent. A consequence of the proof is that the denition of a

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

21

Figure 15. Unnamed

{unn}

Figure 16. Planar operation spider can be streamlined by dropping the rotation operation and the conditions involving this operation. First we discuss Temperley-Lieb diagrams. These are labeled cyclic graphs with E the empty set and whose geometric realisation can be embedded in the plane. This gives both a spherical category and a planar algebra. These are the simplest examples and have the universal property that they are included in any further example. Furthermore the spherical category constructed from the Temperley-Lieb planar algebra is isomorphic to the Temperley-Lieb spherical category. First of all any planar algebra operation can be constructed using the spherical category operations. Let P (a1 , . . . , an ; a). Put W (a) = Hom(e, a). Then we can construct W () as a composite e b0 bn b0 a1 b1 an bn a where the rst and last maps are Temperley-Lieb morphisms. This is illustrated in the case n = 3 in Figure 16. In this Figure we insert a Temperley-Lieb diagram in the top and bottom rectangles. This determines . This shows that we have enough operations in the spherical category. The issue is to show that the nite list of compatibility conditions imply the innite list of conditions for a planar algebra. Proposition 5.1. Any two choices of pairs of Temperley-Lieb diagrams give the same if and only if the two maps are equal. Proof. If we x then the pair of Temperley-Lieb diagrams is not determined. However we can consider the condition that no arc in either Temperley-Lieb diagram connects two lines in the same bi . Then for each there is a unique pair of Temperley-Lieb diagrams which satises this condition. Furthermore given any pair of Temperley-Lieb

{plop}

{pls}

22

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

{mv1}

Figure 17. Moves

{mv2}

Figure 18. Moves diagrams we can convert it to a unique pair which satises this condition by a nite sequence of the two moves in Figure 17 and Figure 18. This shows that the operation W () is well-dened. The units in the planar algebra are constructed from the identity maps in the category and it is clear that these satisfy the unit conditions. The associativity conditions are a direct consequence of Proposition 5.1. 6. Monads and algebras In this section we x a -category and consider plain spiders, spherical categories and planar algebras over this -category. In each case we will consider these as the objects of a category. The results in the previous sections construct equivalences between these categories. In this section we give a dierent perspective on these equivalences of categories. In each of these three cases we have a set W (a) for each morphism a M such that the source and target of a are equal. For spiders and planar algebras this data is given explicitly. For spherical categories we take the set Hom(e, a). Let A be the set of morphisms of M such that the source and target are equal. Then this data can be regarded as the objects of Set/A, the category of sets over A. Then in each case taking this data is a functor by construction. Then the adjoint functor applies and this says that these functors have left adjoints. Then Becks monadicity theorem also applies and says that these functors are monadic. However this is not particularly useful. Given an object X A of Set/A we dene another object W (X) A. The set W (X) is the set of all labeled cyclic graphs with labels in X whose geometric realisation is a disc. The map W (X) A is the map to the boundary. Then it is clear that this is a functor on Set/A. There is an obvious natural transformation 1 W . There is also a natural transformation W W W . This just means that given a cyclic graph

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

23

labeled by W (X) we can construct a cyclic graph labeled by X. Then these natural transformations satisfy the dening relations for a monad or triple. This is monadic and so we can also consider the category of W -algebras. There is a forgetful functor from planar algebras to Set/A and using labeled cyclic graphs we also have a functor from Set/A to planar algebras. The composite of these two functors is the functor W . Furthermore it is clear that the functor using labeled cyclic graphs is a left adjoint to the forgetful functor. This is, for us, the main merit of the planar algebra point of view. This shows that the category of planar algebras is equivalent to the category of W -algebras. Similarly we have a forgetful functor from spherical categories to Set/A and a functor from Set/A to spherical categories constructed using labeled cyclic graphs. Again, the composite of these two functors is the functor W . It is not clear that the functor which constructs the spherical category is left adjoint to the forgetful functor. However it is clear that if we construct the planar algebra using labeled cyclic graphs and then take the spherical category then we construct the same spherical category. This shows that the statement that labeled cyclic graphs construct a left adjoint is equivalent to the statement that the category of planar graphs is equivalent to the category of spherical categories. Therefore this follows from 5.1 and 5.2. Alternatively we can construe the arguments of 5.2 as showing that the spherical category constructed from labeled cyclic graphs is free. From this point of view the Temperley-Lieb spherical category and planar algebra are the free objects on the element W Set/A where W (a) is the empty set for all a A. Then since we have a spherical category we have a functor from the free spherical category to the spherical category of cyclic graphs. The result we want is that this is an isomorphism. It is clear that we have enough operations so that this functor is surjective. It remains to show that we have enough relations so that this functor is injective. From this point of view the argument of 5.2 gives a normal form for each morphism. There is an alternative approach. The set A can be graded by the length of directed path. Then the set of directed paths of length n has an action of the cyclic group of order n. Then the object Set/A underlying a spherical category, spider or planar algebra can be taken to be a map of cyclic sets. Then we can construct a left adjoint to this functor by taking labeled cyclic graphs where the vertices have additional labeling reecting the symmetry. This approach is the one taken in the literature.

24

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

7. Graphs In this section we give a brief discussion of a variation in which the geometric realisation is an abstract graph and is not embedded in a surface. 7.1. Symmetric graphs. Denition 7.1. A symmetric graph consists of sets B , E , I and V together with maps f : B E I V and an involution e : E I E I . A cyclic graph determines a symmetric graph by rst forgetting the set C and the maps h and t . Then we take V to be the orbits of c and dene f to be the map sending each element to its orbit. This shows that both symmetric graphs and cyclic graphs give generalised operads in the sense of [BM06]. A symmetric graph has a geometric realisation which is a 1-complex. Take the space [0, 1/2] B E I and make the following identications. First identify (1/2, x) with (1/2, xe) for all x E I . Secondly identify (0, x) with (0, y) for all x, y such that xf = yf . The boundary is the set of points (1/2, x) for x B . Then there is a normal form whose construction follows the normal form for cyclic graphs. The boundary of a symmetric graph is the set B. An edge labelling is a map : B E I . The labeling set has an involution and we require that xe = x whenever xe is dened. The data for sewing is just an inclusion of B B op in B for some set B. Then the construction for sewing follows the construction for cyclic graphs. 7.2. Symmetric spiders. Let (, ) be a set with an involution. The data for a symmetric spider is a set W (a) for each sequence of elements of , a. Then the operations are as follows. If a has length n and is a permutation of n symbols then we have a second sequence a. The rst operation is a bijection W () : W (a) W (a) for each sequence a and each permutation . The other operations are: (24) (25) (26) W (a) W (b) W (ab) W (abb c) W (ac) W (ac) W (abb c)

The compatibility relations which involve rotation are (7), (17), (18). These conditions are modied. The remaining conditions are retained. The basic example is constructed from symmetric graphs labeled by . The set W (a) is a symmetric graph together with a total order on the boundary points which gives an identication with a. The maps

PRESENTATIONS OF SPHERICAL CATEGORIES

25

W () are constructed by changing the total order. The other operations are constructed using sewing. 7.3. Symmetric categories. Instead of spherical categories we have rigid symmetric monoidal categories. We can construct a rigid symmetric monopidal category from a symmetric spider and vice versa. This is [JS91, Theorem 2.3]. 7.4. Operads. This section is an analogue of the discussion of planar algebras. First we construct a multicategory. Let a1 , a2 , . . . an and a be sequences of elements of . Then let P (a1 , a2 , . . . an ; a) be the set of all labeled symmetric graphs whose set E is empty together with a total order on the boundary points which gives an identication with [a1 , a2 , . . . , an , aop ]. Then we can dene the compositions using sewing much as before. This multicategory has some additional structure since we can permute the sequence a1 , a2 , . . . an . 7.5. Monads. Given a symmetric spider, rigid symmetric monoidal category or algebra over P then we have an underlying functor to Set/A. Here A is the set of sequences of elements of . Each of these functors has a left adjoint which can be constructed using symmetric graphs. This gives rise to the same three monads and so the three categories are equivalent. There is a variation of this where the set A is graded by the length of a sequence. Then the set of sequences of length n has an action of the symmetric group S(n). Then we have underlying functors to the category whose objects are symmetric sets together with a map of symmetric sets to A. References
[Bis02] D. Bisch. Subfactors and planar algebras. In Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Vol. II (Beijing, 2002), pages 775785, Beijing, 2002. Higher Ed. Press. D. Borisov and Yu I. Manin. Generalized operads and their inner cohomomorphisms, 2006, arXiv:math/0609748. John W. Barrett and Bruce W. Westbury. Spherical categories. Adv. Math., 143(2):357375, 1999. J. Scott Carter, Daniel E. Flath, and Masahico Saito. The classical and quantum 6j-symbols, volume 43 of Mathematical Notes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995. Predrag Cvitanovi. Group theory. http://www.nbi.dk/GroupTheory/. c Predrag Cvitanovi. Group theory. preprint, Oxford University, 1977. c Predrag Cvitanovi. Group Theory. Nordita, 1984. c Igor B. Frenkel and Mikhail G. Khovanov. Canonical bases in tensor products and graphical calculus for Uq (sl2 ). Duke Math. J., 87(3):409480, 1997. Peter J. Freyd and David N. Yetter. Braided compact closed categories with applications to low-dimensional topology. Adv. Math., 77(2):156182, 1989.

[BM06] [BW99] [CFS95]

[Cvi] [Cvi77] [Cvi84] [FK97]

[FY89]

26

BRUCE W. WESTBURY

[GK94] Victor Ginzburg and Mikhail Kapranov. Koszul duality for operads. Duke Math. J., 76(1):203272, 1994. [Jon] Vaughan F. R. Jones. Planar algebras, I, arXiv:math.QA/9909027. [JS91] Andr Joyal and Ross Street. The geometry of tensor calculus. I. Adv. e Math., 88(1):55112, 1991. [Ken82] A. D. Kennedy. Diagrammatic methods for spinors in Feynman diagrams. Phys. Rev. D (3), 26(8):19361955, 1982. [Kim] Dongseok Kim. Graphical calculus on representations of quantum lie algebras, arXiv:math.QA/0310143. [KL94] Louis H. Kauman and Sstenes L. Lins. Temperley-Lieb recoupling theo ory and invariants of 3-manifolds, volume 134 of Annals of Mathematics Studies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1994. [Kup96] Greg Kuperberg. Spiders for rank 2 Lie algebras. Comm. Math. Phys., 180(1):109151, 1996. [Lam69] Joachim Lambek. Deductive systems and categories. II. Standard constructions and closed categories. In Category Theory, Homology Theory and their Applications, I (Battelle Institute Conference, Seattle, Wash., 1968, Vol. One), pages 76122. Springer, Berlin, 1969. [Lei02] Tom Leinster. Generalized enrichment of categories. J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 168(2-3):391406, 2002, arXiv:math.CT/9901139. Category theory 1999 (Coimbra). [Lei04] Tom Leinster. Higher operads, higher categories, volume 298 of London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004, arXiv:math/0305049. [MT06] N. J. MacKay and A. Taylor. Rational R-matrices and exceptional Lie algebras. Czechoslovak J. Phys., 56(10-11):12311236, 2006. [New42] M. H. A. Newman. On theories with a combinatorial denition of equivalence.. Ann. of Math. (2), 43:223243, 1942. [Olv99] Peter J. Olver. Classical invariant theory, volume 44 of London Mathematical Society Student Texts. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. [OS89] Peter J. Olver and Chehrzad Shakiban. Graph theory and classical invariant theory. Adv. Math., 75(2):212245, 1989. [PR87] Roger Penrose and Wolfgang Rindler. Spinors and space-time. Vol. 1. Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987. Two-spinor calculus and relativistic elds. [Shu94] Mei Chee Shum. Tortile tensor categories. J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 93(1):57 110, 1994. [SW06] Adam S. Sikora and Bruce W. Westbury. Conuence theory for graphs, 2006, arXiv:math/0609832. [Tut79] W. T. Tutte. Combinatorial oriented maps. Canad. J. Math., 31(5):986 1004, 1979. [Wes03] B. W. Westbury. Invariant tensors and diagrams. Internat. J. Modern Phys. A, 18(Supplement, October):4982, 2003. [Wes06] Bruce W. Westbury. Invariant tensors for the spin representation of so(7), 2006, arXiv:math/0601209. Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL E-mail address: bww@maths.warwick.ac.uk