Equational theories of endomorphism monoids of categories with a topological flavor

Abstract: It is shown that the endomorphism monoids of the category $2\mathfrak{Cob}$ of all $2$-cobordisms do not have finitely axiomatizable equational theories. The same holds for the {topological annular category} and various quotients of the latter, like the affine Temperley--Lieb category. Analogous results are obtained for versions with the algebraic signature enriched by involutions. Von-Neumann-regular extensions of these categories are also considered.