Function (mathematics)In mathematics, a function from a set X to a set Y assigns to each element of X exactly one element of Y. The set X is called the domain of the function and the set Y is called the codomain of the function. Functions were originally the idealization of how a varying quantity depends on another quantity. For example, the position of a planet is a function of time. Historically, the concept was elaborated with the infinitesimal calculus at the end of the 17th century, and, until the 19th century, the functions that were considered were differentiable (that is, they had a high degree of regularity).
Homological algebraHomological algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies homology in a general algebraic setting. It is a relatively young discipline, whose origins can be traced to investigations in combinatorial topology (a precursor to algebraic topology) and abstract algebra (theory of modules and syzygies) at the end of the 19th century, chiefly by Henri Poincaré and David Hilbert. Homological algebra is the study of homological functors and the intricate algebraic structures that they entail; its development was closely intertwined with the emergence of .
MorphismIn mathematics, particularly in , a morphism is a structure-preserving map from one mathematical structure to another one of the same type. The notion of morphism recurs in much of contemporary mathematics. In set theory, morphisms are functions; in linear algebra, linear transformations; in group theory, group homomorphisms; in analysis and topology, continuous functions, and so on.
Five lemmaIn mathematics, especially homological algebra and other applications of theory, the five lemma is an important and widely used lemma about commutative diagrams. The five lemma is not only valid for abelian categories but also works in the , for example. The five lemma can be thought of as a combination of two other theorems, the four lemmas, which are to each other. Consider the following commutative diagram in any (such as the category of abelian groups or the category of vector spaces over a given field) or in the category of groups.
EpimorphismIn , an epimorphism (also called an epic morphism or, colloquially, an epi) is a morphism f : X → Y that is right-cancellative in the sense that, for all objects Z and all morphisms , Epimorphisms are categorical analogues of onto or surjective functions (and in the the concept corresponds exactly to the surjective functions), but they may not exactly coincide in all contexts; for example, the inclusion is a ring epimorphism. The of an epimorphism is a monomorphism (i.e. an epimorphism in a C is a monomorphism in the Cop).
CokernelThe cokernel of a linear mapping of vector spaces f : X → Y is the quotient space Y / im(f) of the codomain of f by the image of f. The dimension of the cokernel is called the corank of f. Cokernels are to the , hence the name: the kernel is a subobject of the domain (it maps to the domain), while the cokernel is a quotient object of the codomain (it maps from the codomain).
AlgebraAlgebra () is the study of variables and the rules for manipulating these variables in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary algebra deals with the manipulation of variables (commonly represented by Roman letters) as if they were numbers and is therefore essential in all applications of mathematics. Abstract algebra is the name given, mostly in education, to the study of algebraic structures such as groups, rings, and fields.
Snake lemmaThe snake lemma is a tool used in mathematics, particularly homological algebra, to construct long exact sequences. The snake lemma is valid in every and is a crucial tool in homological algebra and its applications, for instance in algebraic topology. Homomorphisms constructed with its help are generally called connecting homomorphisms. In an (such as the category of abelian groups or the category of vector spaces over a given field), consider a commutative diagram: where the rows are exact sequences and 0 is the zero object.
Natural transformationIn , a branch of mathematics, a natural transformation provides a way of transforming one functor into another while respecting the internal structure (i.e., the composition of morphisms) of the involved. Hence, a natural transformation can be considered to be a "morphism of functors". Informally, the notion of a natural transformation states that a particular map between functors can be done consistently over an entire category. Indeed, this intuition can be formalized to define so-called .
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.
