Higher Structure Conferences Scheimbauer

Factorization homology as a fully extended TFT

Abstract: (Homotopy) algebras and (pointed) bimodules over them can be viewed as factorization algebras on the real line R which are locally constant with respect to a certain stratification. Moreover, Lurie proved that E_n-algebras are equivalent to locally constant factorization algebras on R^n. Starting from these two facts I will explain how to model the Morita category of E_n-algebras as an (\infty, n)-category. Every object in this category, i.e. any E_n-algebra A, is “fully dualizable” and thus gives rise to a fully extended TFT by the cobordism hypothesis of Baez-Dolan-Lurie. I will explain how this TFT can be explicitly constructed by (essentially) taking factorization homology with coefficients in the E_n-algebra A.