On the formal theory of pseudomonads and pseudodistributive laws

We contribute to the formal theory of pseudomonads, i.e. the analogue for pseudomonads of the formal theory of monads. In particular, we solve a problem posed by Steve Lack by proving that, for every Gray-category K, there is a Gray-category Psm(K) of pseudomonads, pseudomonad morphisms, pseudomonad transformations and pseudomonad modifications in K. We then establish a triequivalence between Psm(K) and the Gray-category of pseudomonads introduced by Marmolejo. Finally, these results are applied to give a clear account of the coherence conditions for pseudodistributive laws. 40 pages. Comments welcome.Comment: This submission replaces arXiv:0907:1359v1, titled "On the coherence conditions for pseudo-distributive laws". 40 page

Distributive laws for relative monads

We introduce the notion of a distributive law between a relative monad and a monad. We call this a relative distributive law and define it in any 2-category $\mathcal{K}$. In order to do that, we introduce the 2-category of relative monads in a 2-category $\mathcal{K}$ with relative monad morphisms and relative monad transformations as 1- and 2-cells, respectively. We relate our definition to the 2-category of monads in $\mathcal{K}$ defined by Street. Thanks to this view we prove two Beck-type theorems regarding relative distributive laws. We also describe what does it mean to have Eilenberg-Moore and Kleisli objects in this context and give examples in the 2-category of locally small categories.Comment: 32 page

A skew approach to enrichment for Gray-categories

It is well known that the category of Gray-categories does not admit a monoidal biclosed structure that models weak higher-dimensional transformations. In this paper, the first of a series on the topic, we describe several skew monoidal closed structures on the category of Gray-categories, one of which captures higher lax transformations, and another which models higher pseudo-transformations.Comment: Minor updates. Submitted for publicatio

Pseudomonads, Relative Monads and Strongly Finitary Notions of Multicategory

In this thesis, we investigate two important notions of category theory: monads and multicategories. First, we contribute to the formal theory of pseudomonads, i.e. the analogue for pseudomonads of the formal theory of monads. In particular, we solve a problem posed by Lack by proving that, for every Gray-category K, there is a Gray-category Psm(K) of pseudomonads in K. We then establish a triequivalence between Psm(K) and the Gray-category of pseudomonads introduced by Marmolejo and give a simpler version of his proof of the equivalence between pseudodistributive laws and liftings of pseudomonads to 2-categories of pseudoalgebras. Secondly, we introduce the notion of a distributive law between a relative monad and a monad. We call this a relative distributive law and define it in any 2- category K. In order to do that, we introduce the 2-category of relative monads in a 2-category K. We relate our definition to the 2-category of monads in K defined by Street. Thanks to this view we prove two theorems regarding relative distributive laws and equivalent notions. We also describe what it means to have Eilenberg-Moore and Kleisli objects in this context and give examples in the 2- category of locally small categories. Finally, we consider multicategories. It is known that monoidal categories have a finite definition, whereas multicategories have an infinite (albeit finitary) definition. Since monoidal categories correspond to representable multicategories, it goes without saying that representable multicategories should also admit a finite description. With this in mind, we give a new finite definition of a structure called a short multicategory, which has only multimaps of dimension at most four, and show that under certain representability conditions short multicategories correspond to various avours of representable multicategories. This is done in both the classical and skew settings