{
  "annotation_id": "21ac10d0-162c-482b-b760-54970a8550fa",
  "date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:28.699000Z",
  "date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:28.699000Z",
  "file_hash": "13f2b2e4480996df9db66581a4b838967b66e4d14ce72d83d04ac486587f0066",
  "private": false,
  "record": {
    "abstract": "An n-category is some sort of algebraic structure consisting of objects,\nmorphisms between objects, 2-morphisms between morphisms, and so on up to\nn-morphisms, together with various ways of composing them. We survey various\nconcepts of n-category, with an emphasis on `weak\u0027 n-categories, in which all\nrules governing the composition of j-morphisms hold only up to equivalence. (An\nn-morphism is an equivalence if it is invertible, while a j-morphism for j \u003c n\nis an equivalence if it is invertible up to a (j+1)-morphism that is an\nequivalence.) We discuss applications of weak n-categories to various subjects\nincluding homotopy theory and topological quantum field theory, and review the\ndefinition of weak n-categories recently proposed by Dolan and the author.",
    "arxiv_id": "q-alg/9705009",
    "authors": [
      "John C. Baez"
    ],
    "categories": [
      "q-alg",
      "gr-qc",
      "math.QA"
    ],
    "journal_ref": "7th Conference on Category Theory and Computer Science, eds. E.\n  Moggi and G. Rosolini, Lecture Notes in Computer Science vol. 1290, Springer,\n  Berlin, 1997, pp. 1-33",
    "title": "An Introduction to n-Categories",
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-alg/9705009"
  },
  "schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
  "source": {
    "execution_id": "af49cbb3-36cf-41a1-b6a0-b80495c650f8",
    "id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
    "type": "Model",
    "variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
    "version": "0.1.0"
  },
  "user_id": 1000002
}