Modified traces and the Nakayama functor

Abstract: We organize the modified trace theory with the use of the Nakayama functor of finite abelian categories. For a linear right exact functor $\Sigma$ on a finite abelian category $\mathcal{M}$, we introduce the notion of a $\Sigma$-twisted trace on the class $\mathrm{Proj}(\mathcal{M})$ of projective objects of $\mathcal{M}$. In our framework, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the set of $\Sigma$-twisted traces on $\mathrm{Proj}(\mathcal{M})$ and the set of natural transformations from $\Sigma$ to the Nakayama functor of $\mathcal{M}$. Non-degeneracy and compatibility with the module structure (when $\mathcal{M}$ is a module category over a finite tensor category) of a $\Sigma$-twisted trace can be written down in terms of the corresponding natural transformation. As an application of this principal, we give existence and uniqueness criteria for modified traces. In particular, a unimodular pivotal finite tensor category admits a non-zero two-sided modified trace if and only if it is spherical. Also, a ribbon finite tensor category admits such a trace if and only if it is unimodular.