The first Hochschild cohomology as a Lie algebra

In this paper we study sufficient conditions for the solvability of the first Hochschild cohomology of a finite dimensional algebra as a Lie algebra in terms of its Ext-quiver in arbitrary characteristic. In particular, we show that if the quiver has no parallel arrows and no loops then the first Hochschild cohomology is solvable. For quivers containing loops, we determine easily verifiable sufficient conditions for the solvability of the first Hochschild cohomology. We apply these criteria to show the solvability of the first Hochschild cohomology space for large families of algebras, namely, several families of self-injective tame algebras including all tame blocks of finite groups and some wild algebras including most quantum complete intersections.

On universal gradings, versal gradings and Schurian generated categories

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.

Galois and universal universal coverings of linear categories and fibre products

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.

The Intrinsic Fundamental Group of a Linear Category

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.

Fundamental group of Schurian categories and the Hurewicz isomorphism

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.

Full and convex linear subcategories are incompressible

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.

Galois coverings, Morita equivalence and smash extensions of categories over a field

We consider categories over a field $k$ in order to prove that smash extensions and Galois coverings with respect to a finite group coincide up to Morita equivalence of $k$-categories. For this purpose we describe processes providing Morita equivalences called contraction and expansion. We prove that composition of these processes provides any Morita equivalence, a result which is related with the karoubianisation (or idempotent completion) and additivisation of a $k$-category.