This paper is a survey of the new notions and results scattered in [13], [11] and [12]. Starting from a formalization of higher dimensional automata (HDA) by strict globular !-categories, the construction of a diagram of simplicial sets over the three-object small category gl ! + is exposed. Some of the properties discovered so far on the corresponding simplicial homology theories are explained, in particular their links with geometric problems coming from concurrency theory in computer science.

Much Australian work on categories is part of, or relevant to, the development of higher categories and their theory. In this note, I hope to describe some of the origins and achievements of our efforts that they might perchance serve as a guide to the development of aspects of higher-dimensional work. I trust that the somewhat autobiographical style will add interest rather than be a distraction. For so long I have felt rather apologetic when describing how categories might be helpful to other mathematicians; I have often felt even worse when mentioning enriched and higher categories to category theorists. This is not to say that I have doubted the value of our work, rather that I have felt slowed down by the continual pressure to defend it. At last, at this meeting, I feel justified in speaking freely amongst motivated researchers who know the need for the subject is well established. Australian Category Theory has its roots in homology theory: more precisely, in the treatment of the cohomology ring and the Künneth formulas in the book by Hilton and Wylie [HW]. The first edition of the book had a mistake concerning the cohomology ring of a product. The Künneth formulas arise from splittings of the natural short exact sequences

Let C , D and E be n-dimensional teisi, i.e., higher-dimensional Gray-categorical structures. The following questions can be asked. Does a left q-transfor C ! D , i.e., a functor 2 q\Omega C ! D , induce a right q-transfor C ! D , i.e., a functor C\Omega 2 q ! D ? More generally, does a functor C\Omega D ! E induce a functor D\Omega C ! E? For c; c 0 elements of C whose (k \Gamma 1)-sources and (k \Gamma 1)-targets agree, does a q-transfor C ! D induce a q-transfor C (c;c 0 ) ! D (d;d 0 ), for appropriate d;d 0 2 D ? For c; c 0 2 C and d;d 0 2 D whose (k \Gamma 1)-sources and (k \Gamma 1)-targets agree, does a q-transfor C\Omega D ! E induce a (q+k+1)-transfor C (c;c 0 )\Omega D (d;d 0 ) ! E(e;e 0 ), for appropriate e; e 0 2 E? I give answers to these questions in the cases where n-dimensional teisi and their tensor product have been defined, i.e., for n 3, and in some cases for n up to 5 which do not need all data and axioms...

che hanno sempre creduto in me.