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Diagonal Functor
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the diagonal functor \mathcal \rightarrow \mathcal \times \mathcal is given by \Delta(a) = \langle a,a \rangle, which maps objects as well as morphisms. This functor can be employed to give a succinct alternate description of the product of objects ''within'' the category \mathcal: a product a \times b is a universal arrow from \Delta to \langle a,b \rangle. The arrow comprises the projection maps. More generally, given a small index category \mathcal, one may construct the functor category \mathcal^\mathcal, the objects of which are called diagrams. For each object a in \mathcal, there is a constant diagram \Delta_a : \mathcal \to \mathcal that maps every object in \mathcal to a and every morphism in \mathcal to 1_a. The diagonal functor \Delta : \mathcal \rightarrow \mathcal^\mathcal assigns to each object a of \mathcal the diagram \Delta_a, and to each morphism f: a \rightarrow b in \mathcal the natural transformation \eta in \math ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Category Theory
Category theory is a general theory of mathematical structures and their relations that was introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in the middle of the 20th century in their foundational work on algebraic topology. Nowadays, category theory is used in almost all areas of mathematics, and in some areas of computer science. In particular, many constructions of new mathematical objects from previous ones, that appear similarly in several contexts are conveniently expressed and unified in terms of categories. Examples include quotient spaces, direct products, completion, and duality. A category is formed by two sorts of objects: the objects of the category, and the morphisms, which relate two objects called the ''source'' and the ''target'' of the morphism. One often says that a morphism is an ''arrow'' that ''maps'' its source to its target. Morphisms can be ''composed'' if the target of the first morphism equals the source of the second one, and morphism com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cone (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the cone of a functor is an abstract notion used to define the limit of that functor. Cones make other appearances in category theory as well. Definition Let ''F'' : ''J'' → ''C'' be a diagram in ''C''. Formally, a diagram is nothing more than a functor from ''J'' to ''C''. The change in terminology reflects the fact that we think of ''F'' as indexing a family of objects and morphisms in ''C''. The category ''J'' is thought of as an "index category". One should consider this in analogy with the concept of an indexed family of objects in set theory. The primary difference is that here we have morphisms as well. Thus, for example, when ''J'' is a discrete category, it corresponds most closely to the idea of an indexed family in set theory. Another common and more interesting example takes ''J'' to be a span. ''J'' can also be taken to be the empty category, leading to the simplest cones. Let ''N'' be an object of ''C''. A cone fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cone (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the cone of a functor is an abstract notion used to define the limit of that functor. Cones make other appearances in category theory as well. Definition Let ''F'' : ''J'' → ''C'' be a diagram in ''C''. Formally, a diagram is nothing more than a functor from ''J'' to ''C''. The change in terminology reflects the fact that we think of ''F'' as indexing a family of objects and morphisms in ''C''. The category ''J'' is thought of as an "index category". One should consider this in analogy with the concept of an indexed family of objects in set theory. The primary difference is that here we have morphisms as well. Thus, for example, when ''J'' is a discrete category, it corresponds most closely to the idea of an indexed family in set theory. Another common and more interesting example takes ''J'' to be a span. ''J'' can also be taken to be the empty category, leading to the simplest cones. Let ''N'' be an object of ''C''. A cone fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Initial And Terminal Objects
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): is terminal if for every object in there exists exactly one morphism . Initial objects are also called coterminal or universal, and terminal objects are also called final. If an object is both initial and terminal, it is called a zero object or null object. A pointed category is one with a zero object. A strict initial object is one for which every morphism into is an isomorphism. Examples * The empty set is the unique initial object in Set, the category of sets. Every one-element set ( singleton) is a terminal object in this category; there are no zero objects. Similarly, the empty space is the unique initial object in Top, the category of topological spaces and every one-point space is a terminal object in this category. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terminal Object
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): is terminal if for every object in there exists exactly one morphism . Initial objects are also called coterminal or universal, and terminal objects are also called final. If an object is both initial and terminal, it is called a zero object or null object. A pointed category is one with a zero object. A strict initial object is one for which every morphism into is an isomorphism. Examples * The empty set is the unique initial object in Set, the category of sets. Every one-element set ( singleton) is a terminal object in this category; there are no zero objects. Similarly, the empty space is the unique initial object in Top, the category of topological spaces and every one-point space is a terminal object in this category. * In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Span (category Theory)
In category theory, a span, roof or correspondence is a generalization of the notion of relation between two objects of a category. When the category has all pullbacks (and satisfies a small number of other conditions), spans can be considered as morphisms in a category of fractions. The notion of a span is due to Nobuo Yoneda (1954) and Jean Bénabou (1967). Formal definition A span is a diagram of type \Lambda = (-1 \leftarrow 0 \rightarrow +1), i.e., a diagram of the form Y \leftarrow X \rightarrow Z. That is, let Λ be the category (-1 ← 0 → +1). Then a span in a category ''C'' is a functor ''S'' : Λ → ''C''. This means that a span consists of three objects ''X'', ''Y'' and ''Z'' of ''C'' and morphisms ''f'' : ''X'' → ''Y'' and ''g'' : ''X'' → ''Z'': it is two maps with common ''domain''. The colimit of a span is a pushout. Examples * If ''R'' is a relation between sets ''X'' and ''Y'' (i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pushout (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a pushout (also called a fibered coproduct or fibered sum or cocartesian square or amalgamated sum) is the colimit of a diagram consisting of two morphisms ''f'' : ''Z'' → ''X'' and ''g'' : ''Z'' → ''Y'' with a common domain. The pushout consists of an object ''P'' along with two morphisms ''X'' → ''P'' and ''Y'' → ''P'' that complete a commutative square with the two given morphisms ''f'' and ''g''. In fact, the defining universal property of the pushout (given below) essentially says that the pushout is the "most general" way to complete this commutative square. Common notations for the pushout are P = X \sqcup_Z Y and P = X +_Z Y. The pushout is the categorical dual of the pullback. Universal property Explicitly, the pushout of the morphisms ''f'' and ''g'' consists of an object ''P'' and two morphisms ''i''1 : ''X'' → ''P'' and ''i''2 : ''Y'' → ''P'' such that the diagram : commutes and such that (' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coproduct
In category theory, the coproduct, or categorical sum, is a construction which includes as examples the disjoint union of sets and of topological spaces, the free product of groups, and the direct sum of modules and vector spaces. The coproduct of a family of objects is essentially the "least specific" object to which each object in the family admits a morphism. It is the category-theoretic dual notion to the categorical product, which means the definition is the same as the product but with all arrows reversed. Despite this seemingly innocuous change in the name and notation, coproducts can be and typically are dramatically different from products. Definition Let C be a category and let X_1 and X_2 be objects of C. An object is called the coproduct of X_1 and X_2, written X_1 \sqcup X_2, or X_1 \oplus X_2, or sometimes simply X_1 + X_2, if there exist morphisms i_1 : X_1 \to X_1 \sqcup X_2 and i_2 : X_2 \to X_1 \sqcup X_2 satisfying the following universal property: for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Product (category Theory)
In category theory, the product of two (or more) objects in a category is a notion designed to capture the essence behind constructions in other areas of mathematics such as the Cartesian product of sets, the direct product of groups or rings, and the product of topological spaces. Essentially, the product of a family of objects is the "most general" object which admits a morphism to each of the given objects. Definition Product of two objects Fix a category C. Let X_1 and X_2 be objects of C. A product of X_1 and X_2 is an object X, typically denoted X_1 \times X_2, equipped with a pair of morphisms \pi_1 : X \to X_1, \pi_2 : X \to X_2 satisfying the following universal property: * For every object Y and every pair of morphisms f_1 : Y \to X_1, f_2 : Y \to X_2, there exists a unique morphism f : Y \to X_1 \times X_2 such that the following diagram commutes: *: Whether a product exists may depend on C or on X_1 and X_2. If it does exist, it is unique up to canonical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adjoint Functors
In mathematics, specifically category theory, adjunction is a relationship that two functors may exhibit, intuitively corresponding to a weak form of equivalence between two related categories. Two functors that stand in this relationship are known as adjoint functors, one being the left adjoint and the other the right adjoint. Pairs of adjoint functors are ubiquitous in mathematics and often arise from constructions of "optimal solutions" to certain problems (i.e., constructions of objects having a certain universal property), such as the construction of a free group on a set in algebra, or the construction of the Stone–Čech compactification of a topological space in topology. By definition, an adjunction between categories \mathcal and \mathcal is a pair of functors (assumed to be covariant) :F: \mathcal \rightarrow \mathcal and G: \mathcal \rightarrow \mathcal and, for all objects X in \mathcal and Y in \mathcal a bijection between the respective morphism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complete Category
In mathematics, a complete category is a category in which all small limits exist. That is, a category ''C'' is complete if every diagram ''F'' : ''J'' → ''C'' (where ''J'' is small) has a limit in ''C''. Dually, a cocomplete category is one in which all small colimits exist. A bicomplete category is a category which is both complete and cocomplete. The existence of ''all'' limits (even when ''J'' is a proper class) is too strong to be practically relevant. Any category with this property is necessarily a thin category: for any two objects there can be at most one morphism from one object to the other. A weaker form of completeness is that of finite completeness. A category is finitely complete if all finite limits exists (i.e. limits of diagrams indexed by a finite category ''J''). Dually, a category is finitely cocomplete if all finite colimits exist. Theorems It follows from the existence theorem for limits that a category is complete if and only if it has equalizers ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Arrow
In mathematics, more specifically in category theory, a universal property is a property that characterizes up to an isomorphism the result of some constructions. Thus, universal properties can be used for defining some objects independently from the method chosen for constructing them. For example, the definitions of the integers from the natural numbers, of the rational numbers from the integers, of the real numbers from the rational numbers, and of polynomial rings from the field of their coefficients can all be done in terms of universal properties. In particular, the concept of universal property allows a simple proof that all constructions of real numbers are equivalent: it suffices to prove that they satisfy the same universal property. Technically, a universal property is defined in terms of categories and functors by mean of a universal morphism (see , below). Universal morphisms can also be thought more abstractly as initial or terminal objects of a comma categor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
