Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2018
In this paper we use the theory of formal moduli problems developed by Lurie in order to study the space of formal deformations of a $k$-linear
$\infty$-category for a field
$k$. Our main result states that if
${\mathcal{C}}$ is a
$k$-linear
$\infty$-category which has a compact generator whose groups of self-extensions vanish for sufficiently high positive degrees, then every formal deformation of
${\mathcal{C}}$ has zero curvature and moreover admits a compact generator.