--- a/blob1.tex Thu Sep 23 12:34:16 2010 -0700
+++ b/blob1.tex Thu Sep 23 13:08:25 2010 -0700
@@ -16,10 +16,21 @@
\maketitle
-[revision $\ge$ 527; $\ge$ 30 August 2010]
+%[revision $\ge$ 527; $\ge$ 30 August 2010]
+%
+%{\color[rgb]{.9,.5,.2} \large \textbf{Draft version, read with caution.}}
+%We're in the midst of revising this, and hope to have a version on the arXiv soon.
-{\color[rgb]{.9,.5,.2} \large \textbf{Draft version, read with caution.}}
-We're in the midst of revising this, and hope to have a version on the arXiv soon.
+\begin{abstract}
+Given an $n$-manifold $M$ and an $n$-category $\cC$, we define a chain complex
+(the ``blob complex") $\bc_*(M; \cC)$.
+The blob complex can be thought of as a derived category version of the Hilbert space of a TQFT,
+or as a generalization of Hochschild homology to $n$-categories and $n$-manifolds.
+It enjoys a number of nice formal properties, including a higher dimensional
+generalization of Deligne's conjecture about the action of the little disks operad on Hochschild cochains.
+Along the way, we give a definition of a weak $n$-category with strong duality which
+is particularly well suited for work with TQFTs.
+\end{abstract}
\tableofcontents