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Higher Dimensional Algebra Vi: Lie 2-Algebra, John C. Baez, Alissa S. Crans

Mathematics Faculty Works

The theory of Lie algebras can be categorified starting from a new notion of `2-vector space', which we define as an internal category in Vect. There is a 2-category 2Vect having these 2-vector spaces as objects, `linear functors' as morphisms and `linear natural transformations' as 2-morphisms. We define a `semistrict Lie 2-algebra' to be a 2-vector space L equipped with a skew-symmetric bilinear functor [ . , . ] : L x L -> L satisfying the Jacobi identity up to a completely antisymmetric trilinear natural transformation called the `Jacobiator', which in turn must satisfy a certain law of its …