Comodule Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-11-05
A right comodule over a coalgebra over a commutative ring is a -module with a coaction satisfying
using the canonical tensor identifications. In Sweedler notation, . The equations are the reversed-arrow counterparts of associativity and the unit law for an algebra module.[ref]
For the group algebra coalgebra with , a direct sum gives a right comodule by . Conversely, expanding a coaction in the basis of group elements recovers this direct sum decomposition. Thus comodules over this coalgebra encode a decomposition indexed by , whereas modules over the same group algebra encode a group representation. More generally, the definition extends to comonoids in a monoidal category whenever the relevant tensor action is specified.
A cobraided bialgebra is a bialgebra equipped with a convolution-invertible bilinear form satisfying the following identities, in Sweedler notation:
Convolution invertibility means there is with , and likewise with interchanged. This is a coquasitriangular structure. On right comodules it induces the braiding
The third identity makes this a comodule map, the first two give its two hexagon identities, and the convolution inverse gives the inverse braiding.
For unital algebras over a field , a measuring coalgebra is a coalgebra together with a linear map such that, in Sweedler notation,
Thus a group-like element acts by a unital algebra homomorphism over a field, while skew-primitive elements give twisted product rules.
The universal measuring coalgebra has a universal measuring map with this property: for every measuring map from a coalgebra , there is a unique coalgebra homomorphism satisfying . The uniqueness is among coalgebra homomorphisms; itself need not be an injective map of vector spaces.
On the monoidal category of modules over the commutative ring , consider the monad coming from the unit and multiplication of the bialgebra . Its opmonoidal functor structure has comparison maps
Here and below Sweedler notation abbreviates the comultiplication . 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 say
The Eilenberg-Moore category of this opmonoidal monad is the category of left -modules: a monad-algebra map is exactly a unital associative action.
Applying the preceding construction gives the diagonal bialgebra action and the unit action
The usual associators and unitors for the tensor product of modules are -linear, and the underlying tensor product is exactly . The forgetful functor into -modules is strict monoidal. The base need not be a field; the modules need be neither flat modules nor finitely generated modules.