2-derivators

Abstract: Introduced independently by Grothendieck and Heller in the 1980s, derivators provide a formal way to study homotopy theories by working in some quotient category such as the homotopy category of a model category. In 2015 Riehl and Verity introduced $\infty$-cosmoi, which are particular $(\infty,2)$-categories where one can develop $(\infty,1)$-category theory in a synthetic way. They noticed that much of the theory of $\infty$-cosmoi can be developed inside a quotient, the homotopy $2$-category. In the following, we begin a program that aims to formalise the $\infty$-cosmological approach to $\infty$-category theory in a derivator-like framework. In this paper we introduce some axioms and demonstrate they hold in a variety of models, including common models related to $\infty$-category theory. We also prove that these axioms are stable under a particular shift operation.