Superalgebra - Generalizations and Categorical Definition

Generalizations and Categorical Definition

One can easily generalize the definition of superalgebras to include superalgebras over a commutative superring. The definition given above is then a specialization to the case where the base ring is purely even.

Let R be a commutative superring. A superalgebra over R is a R-supermodule A with a R-bilinear multiplication A × A → A that respects the grading. Bilinearity here means that

for all homogeneous elements r ∈ R and x, y ∈ A.

Equivalently, one may define a superalgebra over R as a superring A together with an superring homomorphism R → A whose image lies in the supercenter of A.

One may also define superalgebras categorically. The category of all R-supermodules forms a monoidal category under the super tensor product with R serving as the unit object. An associative, unital superalgebra over R can then be defined as a monoid in the category of R-supermodules. That is, a superalgebra is an R-supermodule A with two (even) morphisms

for which the usual diagrams commute.