Monoid (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, a monoid (or monoid object, or internal monoid, or algebra) (M, μ, η) in a (C, ⊗, I) is an M together with two morphisms μ: M ⊗ M → M called multiplication, η: I → M called unit, such that the pentagon and the unitor diagram commute. In the above notation, 1 is the identity morphism of M, I is the unit element and α, λ and ρ are respectively the associativity, the left identity and the right identity of the monoidal category C. Dually, a comonoid in a monoidal category C is a monoid in the Cop.
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.
