Scalar Extension of Bicoalgebroids

Abstract

After recalling the definition of a bicoalgebroid, we define comodules and modules over a bicoalgebroid. We construct the monoidal category of comodules, and define Yetter–Drinfel’d modules over a bicoalgebroid. It is proved that the Yetter–Drinfel’d category is monoidal and pre-braided just as in the case of bialgebroids, and is embedded into the one-sided center of the comodule category. We proceed to define braided cocommutative coalgebras (BCC) over a bicoalgebroid, and dualize the scalar extension construction of Brzezinski and Militaru (J Algebra 251:279–294, 2002) and Balint and Szlachanyi (J Algebra 296:520–560, 2006), originally applied to bialgebras and bialgebroids, to bicoalgebroids. A few classical examples of this construction are given. Identifying the comodule category over a bicoalgebroid with the category of coalgebras of the associated comonad, we obtain a comonadic (weakened) version of Schauenburg’s theorem. Finally, we take a look at the scalar extension and braided cocommutative coalgebras from a (co-)monadic point of view.