Lax monads, equipments and generalized multicategory theory

Abstract: Generalized multicategories, also called $T$-monoids, are well known class of mathematical structures, which include diverse set of examples. In this paper we construct a generalization of the adjunction between strict monoidal categories and multicategories, where the latter are replaced by $T$-monoids. To do this we introduce lax monads in a 3-category, and establish their relationship with equipments, which are bicategory like structures appropriate for the generalized multicategory theory.