Category of small categoriesIn mathematics, specifically in , the category of small categories, denoted by Cat, is the whose objects are all and whose morphisms are functors between categories. Cat may actually be regarded as a with natural transformations serving as 2-morphisms. The initial object of Cat is the empty category 0, which is the category of no objects and no morphisms. The terminal object is the terminal category or trivial category 1 with a single object and morphism. The category Cat is itself a , and therefore not an object of itself.
Category of ringsIn mathematics, the category of rings, denoted by Ring, is the whose objects are rings (with identity) and whose morphisms are ring homomorphisms (that preserve the identity). Like many categories in mathematics, the category of rings is , meaning that the class of all rings is proper. The category Ring is a meaning that the objects are sets with additional structure (addition and multiplication) and the morphisms are functions that preserve this structure.
Category theoryCategory 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. Category theory is used in almost all areas of mathematics. In particular, numerous constructions of new mathematical objects from previous ones that appear similarly in several contexts are conveniently expressed and unified in terms of categories.
Category (mathematics)In mathematics, a category (sometimes called an abstract category to distinguish it from a ) is a collection of "objects" that are linked by "arrows". A category has two basic properties: the ability to compose the arrows associatively and the existence of an identity arrow for each object. A simple example is the , whose objects are sets and whose arrows are functions. is a branch of mathematics that seeks to generalize all of mathematics in terms of categories, independent of what their objects and arrows represent.
Quasi-categoryIn mathematics, more specifically , a quasi-category (also called quasicategory, weak Kan complex, inner Kan complex, infinity category, ∞-category, Boardman complex, quategory) is a generalization of the notion of a . The study of such generalizations is known as . Quasi-categories were introduced by . André Joyal has much advanced the study of quasi-categories showing that most of the usual basic and some of the advanced notions and theorems have their analogues for quasi-categories.
FunctorIn mathematics, specifically , a functor is a mapping between . Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which is applied.
Adjoint functorsIn mathematics, specifically , 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.
Hom functorIn mathematics, specifically in , hom-sets (i.e. sets of morphisms between ) give rise to important functors to the . These functors are called hom-functors and have numerous applications in category theory and other branches of mathematics. Let C be a (i.e. a for which hom-classes are actually sets and not proper classes). For all objects A and B in C we define two functors to the as follows: {| class=wikitable |- ! Hom(A, –) : C → Set ! Hom(–, B) : C → Set |- | This is a covariant functor given by: Hom(A, –) maps each object X in C to the set of morphisms, Hom(A, X) Hom(A, –) maps each morphism f : X → Y to the function Hom(A, f) : Hom(A, X) → Hom(A, Y) given by for each g in Hom(A, X).
Forgetful functorIn mathematics, in the area of , a forgetful functor (also known as a stripping functor) 'forgets' or drops some or all of the input's structure or properties 'before' mapping to the output. For an algebraic structure of a given signature, this may be expressed by curtailing the signature: the new signature is an edited form of the old one. If the signature is left as an empty list, the functor is simply to take the underlying set of a structure.
Exact functorIn mathematics, particularly homological algebra, an exact functor is a functor that preserves short exact sequences. Exact functors are convenient for algebraic calculations because they can be directly applied to presentations of objects. Much of the work in homological algebra is designed to cope with functors that fail to be exact, but in ways that can still be controlled. Let P and Q be abelian categories, and let F: P→Q be a covariant additive functor (so that, in particular, F(0) = 0).
Derived functorIn mathematics, certain functors may be derived to obtain other functors closely related to the original ones. This operation, while fairly abstract, unifies a number of constructions throughout mathematics. It was noted in various quite different settings that a short exact sequence often gives rise to a "long exact sequence". The concept of derived functors explains and clarifies many of these observations. Suppose we are given a covariant left exact functor F : A → B between two A and B.
Category of modulesIn algebra, given a ring R, the category of left modules over R is the whose are all left modules over R and whose morphisms are all module homomorphisms between left R-modules. For example, when R is the ring of integers Z, it is the same thing as the . The category of right modules is defined in a similar way. One can also define the category of bimodules over a ring R but that category is equivalent to the category of left (or right) modules over the enveloping algebra of R (or over the opposite of that).
Enriched categoryIn , a branch of mathematics, an enriched category generalizes the idea of a by replacing hom-sets with objects from a general . 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 (the hom-set) associated with every pair of objects is replaced by an in some fixed monoidal category of "hom-objects".
Functor categoryIn , a branch of mathematics, a functor category is a category where the objects are the functors and the morphisms are natural transformations between the functors (here, is another object in the category). Functor categories are of interest for two main reasons: many commonly occurring categories are (disguised) functor categories, so any statement proved for general functor categories is widely applicable; every category embeds in a functor category (via the Yoneda embedding); the functor category often has nicer properties than the original category, allowing certain operations that were not available in the original setting.
Homotopy categoryIn mathematics, the homotopy category is a built from the category of topological spaces which in a sense identifies two spaces that have the same shape. The phrase is in fact used for two different (but related) categories, as discussed below. More generally, instead of starting with the category of topological spaces, one may start with any and define its associated homotopy category, with a construction introduced by Quillen in 1967. In this way, homotopy theory can be applied to many other categories in geometry and algebra.
Directed graphIn mathematics, and more specifically in graph theory, a directed graph (or digraph) is a graph that is made up of a set of vertices connected by directed edges, often called arcs. In formal terms, a directed graph is an ordered pair where V is a set whose elements are called vertices, nodes, or points; A is a set of ordered pairs of vertices, called arcs, directed edges (sometimes simply edges with the corresponding set named E instead of A), arrows, or directed lines.
Fundamental groupoidIn algebraic topology, the fundamental groupoid is a certain topological invariant of a topological space. It can be viewed as an extension of the more widely-known fundamental group; as such, it captures information about the homotopy type of a topological space. In terms of , the fundamental groupoid is a certain functor from the category of topological spaces to the category of groupoids. Let X be a topological space. Consider the equivalence relation on continuous paths in X in which two continuous paths are equivalent if they are homotopic with fixed endpoints.
Directed acyclic graphIn mathematics, particularly graph theory, and computer science, a directed acyclic graph (DAG) is a directed graph with no directed cycles. That is, it consists of vertices and edges (also called arcs), with each edge directed from one vertex to another, such that following those directions will never form a closed loop. A directed graph is a DAG if and only if it can be topologically ordered, by arranging the vertices as a linear ordering that is consistent with all edge directions.
Equivalence of categoriesIn , a branch of abstract mathematics, an equivalence of categories is a relation between two that establishes that these categories are "essentially the same". There are numerous examples of categorical equivalences from many areas of mathematics. Establishing an equivalence involves demonstrating strong similarities between the mathematical structures concerned.
Comma categoryIn mathematics, a comma category (a special case being a slice category) is a construction in . It provides another way of looking at morphisms: instead of simply relating objects of a to one another, morphisms become objects in their own right. This notion was introduced in 1963 by F. W. Lawvere (Lawvere, 1963 p. 36), 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 s and colimits.
