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Remarks on a Categorical Definition of Degeneration in Triangulated Categories

This work reports on joint research with Manuel Saorin. For an algebra A over an algebraically closed field k the set of A-module structures on k d forms an affine algebraic variety. The general linear group Gl d (k) acts on this variety and isomorphism classes correspond to orbits under this action. A module M degenerates to a module N if N belongs to the Zariski closure of the orbit of M. Yoshino gave a scheme-theoretic characterisation, and Saorin and Zimmermann generalise this concept to general triangulated categories. We show that this concept has an interpretation in terms of distinguished triangles, analogous to the Riedtmann-Zwara characterisation for modules. In this manuscript we report on these results and study the behaviour of this degeneration concept under functors between triangulated categories.