Let $\mathfrak {g}$ be a complex semisimple Lie algebra with associated Yangian $Y_{\hbar }\mathfrak {g}$. In the mid-1990s, Khoroshkin and Tolstoy formulated a conjecture which asserts that the algebra $\mathrm {D}Y_{\hbar }\mathfrak {g}$ obtained by doubling the generators of $Y_{\hbar }\mathfrak {g}$, called the Yangian double, provides a realization of the quantum double of the Yangian. We provide a uniform proof of this conjecture over $\mathbb {C}[\kern-1.2pt\![{\hbar }]\!\kern-1.2pt]$ which is compatible with the theory of quantized enveloping algebras. As a by-product, we identify the universal R-matrix of the Yangian with the canonical element defined by the pairing between the Yangian and its restricted dual.

We define slope subalgebras in the shuffle algebra associated to a (doubled) quiver, thus yielding a factorization of the universal R-matrix of the double of the shuffle algebra in question. We conjecture that this factorization matches the one defined by [1, 18, 32, 33, 34] using Nakajima quiver varieties.

Let $U_q'({\mathfrak {g}})$ be a quantum affine algebra with an indeterminate $q$, and let $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}$ be the category of finite-dimensional integrable $U_q'({\mathfrak {g}})$-modules. We write $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}^0$ for the monoidal subcategory of $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}$ introduced by Hernandez and Leclerc. In this paper, we associate a simply laced finite-type root system to each quantum affine algebra $U_q'({\mathfrak {g}})$ in a natural way and show that the block decompositions of $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}$ and $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}^0$ are parameterized by the lattices associated with the root system. We first define a certain abelian group $\mathcal {W}$ (respectively $\mathcal {W} _0$) arising from simple modules of $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}$ (respectively $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}^0$) by using the invariant $\Lambda ^\infty$ introduced in previous work by the authors. The groups $\mathcal {W}$ and $\mathcal {W} _0$ have subsets $\Delta$ and $\Delta _0$ determined by the fundamental representations in $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}$ and $\mathscr {C}_{\mathfrak {g}}^0$, respectively. We prove that the pair $( \mathbb {R} \otimes _\mathbb {\mspace {1mu}Z\mspace {1mu}} \mathcal {W} _0, \Delta _0)$ is an irreducible simply laced root system of finite type and that the pair $( \mathbb {R} \otimes _\mathbb {\mspace {1mu}Z\mspace {1mu}} \mathcal {W} , \Delta )$ is isomorphic to the direct sum of infinite copies of $( \mathbb {R} \otimes _\mathbb {\mspace {1mu}Z\mspace {1mu}} \mathcal {W} _0, \Delta _0)$ as a root system.

We introduce and investigate new invariants of pairs of modules $M$ and $N$ over quantum affine algebras $U_{q}^{\prime }(\mathfrak{g})$ by analyzing their associated $R$-matrices. Using these new invariants, we provide a criterion for a monoidal category of finite-dimensional integrable $U_{q}^{\prime }(\mathfrak{g})$-modules to become a monoidal categorification of a cluster algebra.