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.
Zero morphismIn , a branch of mathematics, a zero morphism is a special kind of morphism exhibiting properties like the morphisms to and from a zero object. Suppose C is a , and f : X → Y is a morphism in C. The morphism f is called a constant morphism (or sometimes left zero morphism) if for any W in C and any g, h : W → X, fg = fh. Dually, f is called a coconstant morphism (or sometimes right zero morphism) if for any object Z in C and any g, h : Y → Z, gf = hf. A zero morphism is one that is both a constant morphism and a coconstant morphism.
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.
Trivial groupIn mathematics, a trivial group or zero group is a group consisting of a single element. All such groups are isomorphic, so one often speaks of the trivial group. The single element of the trivial group is the identity element and so it is usually denoted as such: or depending on the context. If the group operation is denoted then it is defined by The similarly defined is also a group since its only element is its own inverse, and is hence the same as the trivial group.
Pointed setIn mathematics, a pointed set (also based set or rooted set) is an ordered pair where is a set and is an element of called the base point, also spelled basepoint. Maps between pointed sets and —called based maps, pointed maps, or point-preserving maps—are functions from to that map one basepoint to another, i.e. maps such that . Based maps are usually denoted Pointed sets are very simple algebraic structures. In the sense of universal algebra, a pointed set is a set together with a single nullary operation which picks out the basepoint.
Cone (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, the cone of a functor is an abstract notion used to define the of that functor. Cones make other appearances in category theory as well. Let F : J → C be a in C. Formally, a diagram is nothing more than a functor from J to C. The change in terminology reflects the fact that we think of F as indexing a family of and morphisms in C. The J is thought of as an "index category". One should consider this in analogy with the concept of an indexed family of objects in set theory.
Isomorphism of categoriesIn , two categories C and D are isomorphic if there exist functors F : C → D and G : D → C which are mutually inverse to each other, i.e. FG = 1D (the identity functor on D) and GF = 1C. This means that both the s and the morphisms of C and D stand in a one-to-one correspondence to each other. Two isomorphic categories share all properties that are defined solely in terms of category theory; for all practical purposes, they are identical and differ only in the notation of their objects and morphisms.
Pushout (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, a pushout (also called a fibered coproduct or fibered sum or cocartesian square or amalgamated sum) is the colimit of a consisting of two morphisms f : Z → X and g : Z → Y with a common domain. The pushout consists of an P along with two morphisms X → P and Y → P that complete a commutative square with the two given morphisms f and g. In fact, the defining universal property of the pushout (given below) essentially says that the pushout is the "most general" way to complete this commutative square.
