 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
In category theory, an abstract branch of mathematics, and in its applications to logic and theoretical computer science, a list object is an abstract definition of a list, that is, a finite ordered sequence.
Let C be a category with finite products and a terminal object 1. A list object over an object A of C is:
such that for any object B of C with maps b : 1 → B and t : A × B → B, there exists a unique f : LA → B such that the following diagram commutes:
where〈idA, f〉denotes the arrow induced by the universal property of the product when applied to idA (the identity on A) and f. The notation A* (à la Kleene star) is sometimes used to denote lists over A. [1]
In a category with a terminal object 1, binary coproducts (denoted by +), and binary products (denoted by ×), a list object over A can be defined as the initial algebra of the endofunctor that acts on objects by X ↦ 1 + (A × X) and on arrows by f ↦ [id1,〈idA, f〉]. [2]
Like all constructions defined by a universal property, lists over an object are unique up to canonical isomorphism.
The object L1 (lists over the terminal object) has the universal property of a natural number object. In any category with lists, one can define the length of a list LA to be the unique morphism l : LA → L1 which makes the following diagram commute: [3]
Category theory formalizes mathematical structure and its concepts in terms of a labeled directed graph called a category, whose nodes are called objects, and whose labelled directed edges are called arrows. A category has two basic properties: the ability to compose the arrows associatively, and the existence of an identity arrow for each object. The language of category theory has been used to formalize concepts of other high-level abstractions such as sets, rings, and groups. Informally, category theory is a general theory of functions.
In mathematics, especially in category theory and homotopy theory, a groupoid generalises the notion of group in several equivalent ways. A groupoid can be seen as a:
In mathematics, the inverse limit is a construction that allows one to "glue together" several related objects, the precise manner of the gluing process being specified by morphisms between the objects. Inverse limits can be defined in any category, and they are a special case of the concept of a limit in category theory.
In abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics, a monoid is an algebraic structure with a single associative binary operation and an identity element.
![Universal property Central object of study in [[category theory]]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Universal_morphism_definition.svg/320px-Universal_morphism_definition.svg.png)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a universal property is an important property which is satisfied by a universal morphism. Universal morphisms can also be thought of more abstractly as initial or terminal objects of a comma category. Universal properties occur almost everywhere in mathematics, and hence the precise category theoretic concept helps point out similarities between different branches of mathematics, some of which may even seem unrelated.
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the abstract notion of a limit captures the essential properties of universal constructions such as products, pullbacks and inverse limits. The dual notion of a colimit generalizes constructions such as disjoint unions, direct sums, coproducts, pushouts and direct limits.
In mathematics, more specifically in abstract algebra and universal algebra, an algebraic structure consists of a set A, a collection of operations on A of finite arity, and a finite set of identities, known as axioms, that these operations must satisfy. Some algebraic structures also involve another set.
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an enriched category generalizes the idea of a category by replacing hom-sets with objects from a general monoidal category. It is motivated by the observation that, in many practical applications, the hom-set often has additional structure that should be respected, e.g., that of being a vector space of morphisms, or a topological space of morphisms. In an enriched category, the set of morphisms associated with every pair of objects is replaced by an object in some fixed monoidal category of "hom-objects". In order to emulate the (associative) composition of morphisms in an ordinary category, the hom-category must have a means of composing hom-objects in an associative manner: that is, there must be a binary operation on objects giving us at least the structure of a monoidal category, though in some contexts the operation may also need to be commutative and perhaps also to have a right adjoint.
In mathematics, a direct limit is a way to construct a object from many objects that are put together in a specific way. These objects may be groups, rings, vector spaces or in general objects from any category. The way they are put together is specified by a system of homomorphisms between those smaller objects. The direct limit of the objects , where ranges over some directed set , is denoted by .
In category theory, the product of two 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.
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.
In mathematics, a monoidal category is a category equipped with a bifunctor
In mathematics, the idea of a free object is one of the basic concepts of abstract algebra. It is a part of universal algebra, in the sense that it relates to all types of algebraic structure. It also has a formulation in terms of category theory, although this is in yet more abstract terms. Examples include free groups, tensor algebras, or free lattices. Informally, a free object over a set A can be thought of as being a "generic" algebraic structure over A: the only equations that hold between elements of the free object are those that follow from the defining axioms of the algebraic structure.
In mathematics, a join-semilattice is a partially ordered set that has a join for any nonempty finite subset. Dually, a meet-semilattice is a partially ordered set which has a meet for any nonempty finite subset. Every join-semilattice is a meet-semilattice in the inverse order and vice versa.
In mathematics, a comma category is a construction in category theory. It provides another way of looking at morphisms: instead of simply relating objects of a category to one another, morphisms become objects in their own right. This notion was introduced in 1963 by F. W. Lawvere, although the technique did not become generally known until many years later. Several mathematical concepts can be treated as comma categories. Comma categories also guarantee the existence of some limits and colimits. The name comes from the notation originally used by Lawvere, which involved the comma punctuation mark. The name persists even though standard notation has changed, since the use of a comma as an operator is potentially confusing, and even Lawvere dislikes the uninformative term "comma category".
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a pullback is the limit of a diagram consisting of two morphisms f : X → Z and g : Y → Z with a common codomain. The pullback is often written
In category theory, a natural numbers object (NNO) is an object endowed with a recursive structure similar to natural numbers. More precisely, in a category E with a terminal object 1, an NNO N is given by:
In mathematics, specifically in category theory, F-algebras generalize the notion of algebraic structure. Rewriting the algebraic laws in terms of morphisms eliminates all references to quantified elements from the axioms, and these algebraic laws may then be glued together in terms of a single functor F, the signature.
This is a glossary of properties and concepts in category theory in mathematics.
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a diagram is the categorical analogue of an indexed family in set theory. The primary difference is that in the categorical setting one has morphisms that also need indexing. An indexed family of sets is a collection of sets, indexed by a fixed set; equivalently, a function from a fixed index set to the class of sets. A diagram is a collection of objects and morphisms, indexed by a fixed category; equivalently, a functor from a fixed index category to some category.
|  | |||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
