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An algebra over a commutative ring that is also a coalgebra, whose comultiplication and counit preserve the multiplication and unit. Equivalently it is a bimonoid in $k$-modules.

The categorical dual of a monoid object: an object with coassociative comultiplication and a counit, with the ambient constraints included.

On the monoidal category of modules over the commutative ring $k$, consider the monad $T=H{\otimes }_k-$ coming from the unit and multiplication of the bialgebra $H$. Its opmonoidal functor structure has comparison mapsHere and below Sweedler notation abbreviates the comultiplication $\Delta h=\sum h_{(1)}\otimes h_{(2)}$. The opmonoidal associativity and unit axioms are the coassociativity and counit laws of the coalgebra. The unit and multiplication of a monad are opmonoidal natural transformations because the bialgebra axioms sayThe Eilenberg-Moore category of this opmonoidal monad is the category of left $H$-modules: a monad-algebra map $H{\otimes }_{k}M\to M$ is exactly a unital associative action.

Applying the preceding construction gives the diagonal bialgebra action and the unit actionThe usual associators and unitors for the tensor product of modules are $H$-linear, and the underlying tensor product is exactly ${\otimes }_k$. The forgetful functor into $k$-modules is strict monoidal. The base need not be a field; the modules need be neither flat modules nor finitely generated modules.

The notation $\Delta h=\sum h_{(1)}\otimes h_{(2)}$ suppresses the summation index of a comultiplication; iterated indices use coassociativity. For a comodule, write $\rho (u)=\sum u_{(0)}\otimes u_{(1)}$.