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.
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.
HomomorphismIn algebra, a homomorphism is a structure-preserving map between two algebraic structures of the same type (such as two groups, two rings, or two vector spaces). The word homomorphism comes from the Ancient Greek language: ὁμός () meaning "same" and μορφή () meaning "form" or "shape". However, the word was apparently introduced to mathematics due to a (mis)translation of German ähnlich meaning "similar" to ὁμός meaning "same". The term "homomorphism" appeared as early as 1892, when it was attributed to the German mathematician Felix Klein (1849–1925).
Section (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, a section is a right inverse of some morphism. , a retraction is a left inverse of some morphism. In other words, if and are morphisms whose composition is the identity morphism on , then is a section of , and is a retraction of . Every section is a monomorphism (every morphism with a left inverse is left-cancellative), and every retraction is an epimorphism (every morphism with a right inverse is right-cancellative). In algebra, sections are also called split monomorphisms and retractions are also called split epimorphisms.
Functor represented by a schemeIn algebraic geometry, a functor represented by a scheme X is a set-valued contravariant functor on the category of schemes such that the value of the functor at each scheme S is (up to natural bijections) the set of all morphisms . The scheme X is then said to represent the functor and that classify geometric objects over S given by F. The best known example is the Hilbert scheme of a scheme X (over some fixed base scheme), which, when it exists, represents a functor sending a scheme S to a flat family of closed subschemes of .
Dual (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, duality is a correspondence between the properties of a category C and the dual properties of the Cop. Given a statement regarding the category C, by interchanging the source and target of each morphism as well as interchanging the order of composing two morphisms, a corresponding dual statement is obtained regarding the opposite category Cop. Duality, as such, is the assertion that truth is invariant under this operation on statements.
Group objectIn , a branch of mathematics, group objects are certain generalizations of groups that are built on more complicated structures than sets. A typical example of a group object is a topological group, a group whose underlying set is a topological space such that the group operations are continuous. Formally, we start with a C with finite products (i.e. C has a terminal object 1 and any two of C have a ).
Module homomorphismIn algebra, a module homomorphism is a function between modules that preserves the module structures. Explicitly, if M and N are left modules over a ring R, then a function is called an R-module homomorphism or an R-linear map if for any x, y in M and r in R, In other words, f is a group homomorphism (for the underlying additive groups) that commutes with scalar multiplication. If M, N are right R-modules, then the second condition is replaced with The of the zero element under f is called the kernel of f.
Higher category theoryIn mathematics, higher category theory is the part of at a higher order, which means that some equalities are replaced by explicit arrows in order to be able to explicitly study the structure behind those equalities. Higher category theory is often applied in algebraic topology (especially in homotopy theory), where one studies algebraic invariants of spaces, such as their fundamental . An ordinary has and morphisms, which are called 1-morphisms in the context of higher category theory.
Fundamental theorem on homomorphismsIn abstract algebra, the fundamental theorem on homomorphisms, also known as the fundamental homomorphism theorem, or the first isomorphism theorem, relates the structure of two objects between which a homomorphism is given, and of the kernel and of the homomorphism. The homomorphism theorem is used to prove the isomorphism theorems. Given two groups G and H and a group homomorphism f : G → H, let N be a normal subgroup in G and φ the natural surjective homomorphism G → G/N (where G/N is the quotient group of G by N).
Category of setsIn the mathematical field of , the category of sets, denoted as Set, is the whose are sets. The arrows or morphisms between sets A and B are the total functions from A to B, and the composition of morphisms is the composition of functions. Many other categories (such as the , with group homomorphisms as arrows) add structure to the objects of the category of sets and/or restrict the arrows to functions of a particular kind.
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).
Monad (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, a monad (also triple, triad, standard construction and fundamental construction) is a in the of endofunctors of some fixed category. An endofunctor is a functor mapping a category to itself, and a monad is an endofunctor together with two natural transformations required to fulfill certain coherence conditions. Monads are used in the theory of pairs of adjoint functors, and they generalize closure operators on partially ordered sets to arbitrary categories.
Weil restrictionIn mathematics, restriction of scalars (also known as "Weil restriction") is a functor which, for any finite extension of fields L/k and any algebraic variety X over L, produces another variety ResL/kX, defined over k. It is useful for reducing questions about varieties over large fields to questions about more complicated varieties over smaller fields. Let L/k be a finite extension of fields, and X a variety defined over L. The functor from k-schemesop to sets is defined by (In particular, the k-rational points of are the L-rational points of X.
Initial and terminal objectsIn , a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a C is an object I in C such that for every object X in C, there exists precisely one morphism I → X. The notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): T is terminal if for every object X in C there exists exactly one morphism X → T. 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.
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.
Group theoryIn abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces, can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and axioms. Groups recur throughout mathematics, and the methods of group theory have influenced many parts of algebra. Linear algebraic groups and Lie groups are two branches of group theory that have experienced advances and have become subject areas in their own right.
Kernel (algebra)In algebra, the kernel of a homomorphism (function that preserves the structure) is generally the of 0 (except for groups whose operation is denoted multiplicatively, where the kernel is the inverse image of 1). An important special case is the kernel of a linear map. The kernel of a matrix, also called the null space, is the kernel of the linear map defined by the matrix. The kernel of a homomorphism is reduced to 0 (or 1) if and only if the homomorphism is injective, that is if the inverse image of every element consists of a single element.
Mathematical objectA mathematical object is an abstract concept arising in mathematics. In the usual language of mathematics, an object is anything that has been (or could be) formally defined, and with which one may do deductive reasoning and mathematical proofs. Typically, a mathematical object can be a value that can be assigned to a variable, and therefore can be involved in formulas. Commonly encountered mathematical objects include numbers, sets, functions, expressions, geometric objects, transformations of other mathematical objects, and spaces.
Nerve (category theory)In , a discipline within mathematics, the nerve N(C) of a C is a simplicial set constructed from the objects and morphisms of C. The geometric realization of this simplicial set is a topological space, called the classifying space of the category C. These closely related objects can provide information about some familiar and useful categories using algebraic topology, most often homotopy theory. The nerve of a category is often used to construct topological versions of moduli spaces.
