Investigating an Interesting Categorical Action

Alexandra Ballow, Montana State University

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Category theory is a relatively new field in mathematics which aims to provide a general and abstract framework for nearly every area of mathematics. The generality of the theory allows for very sweeping statements to be made which cross subject matter altogether with applications in physics and functional programming in addition to more standard mathematical applications. Generally category theory is not employed to prove new statements, rather it allows for simple and comprehensible rephrasing of otherwise involved proofs. Here we aim to describe basic definitions and examples of categories, as well as their more novel higher analogs, toward the aim of describing a specific categorical action which has applications in condensed matter physics.