# Nerves of (braided or symmetric) monoidal categories

I'm looking for references on the structure which can be roughtly described as follows: given a (braided or symmetric) monoidal category $C$, I want to consider a simplicial set $N(\mathbf{B}C)$ with a single vertex, an edge for every object of $C$, a triangle with edges $X,Y,Z$ for every morphism $\varphi:Z\to X\otimes Y$, a tethraedron for every four triangles making up a commutative diagram involving the associator of $C$, higher coherences..

Any suggestion? thanks

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If you want to capture the structure of the category together with its monoidal structure, you may need a $k$-fold simplicial set for $k>1$, i.e., a functor from $(\Delta^{op})^k$ to sets. One of the simplicial coordinates encodes the composition law in the category, another encodes the monoidal structure, and the rest decribe compatibility between monoidal structures (if the monoidal structure is braided or symmetric). See also Double nerve. You may want to look up work by Baez and Dolan on their periodic table that expresses monoidal categories of various types as higher categories with connectedness properties. In particular, there is an equivalence between monoidal categories and 2-categories with one object, and an equivalence between braided monoidal categories and 3-categories with one object and one 1-morphism.
Thanks. I'm currently interested in this since when the braided category is the category $Rep(SU(2))$ of finite dimensional representations of $SU(2)$ (or, rather, a quantum verion of it), such a nerve seems to lie behind Turaev-Viro invariants of 3-manifolds. –  domenico fiorenza Aug 10 '10 at 15:38