Categories over a field $k$ can be graded by different groups in a connected way; we consider morphisms between these gradings in order to define the fundamental grading group. We prove that this group is isomorphic to the fundamental group `a la Grothendieck as considered in previous papers. In case the $k$-category is Schurian generated we prove that a universal grading exists. Examples of non Schurian generated categories with universal grading, versal grading or none of them are considered.
Let $k$ be a commutative ring. We study the behaviour of coverings of $k$-categories through fibre products and find a criterion for a covering to be Galois or universal.
We provide an intrinsic definition of the fundamental group of a linear category over a ring as the automorphism group of the fibre functor on Galois coverings. If the universal covering exists, we prove that this group is isomorphic to the Galois group of the universal covering. The grading deduced from a Galois covering enables us to describe the canonical monomorphism from its automorphism group to the first Hochschild-Mitchell cohomology vector space.
Let k be a field. We attach a CW-complex to any Schurian k-category and we prove that the fundamental group of this CW-complex is isomorphic to the intrinsic fundamental group of the k-category. This extends previous results by J.C. Bustamante. We also prove that the Hurewicz morphism from the vector space of abelian characters of the fundamental group to the first Hochschild-Mitchell cohomology vector space of the category is an isomorphism.
Consider the intrinsic fundamental group `a la Grothendieck of a linear category using connected gradings. In this article we prove that any full convex subcategory is incompressible, in the sense that the group map between the corresponding fundamental groups is injective. We start by proving the functoriality of the intrinsic fundamental group with respect to full subcategories, based on the study of the restriction of connected gradings.
