Concept
Diagram (category theory)
Related concepts (17)
Span (category theory)
In , a span, roof or correspondence is a generalization of the notion of relation between two of a . When the category has all (and satisfies a small number of other conditions), spans can be considered as morphisms in a . The notion of a span is due to Nobuo Yoneda (1954) and Jean Bénabou (1967). A span is a of type i.e., a diagram of the form . That is, let Λ be the category (-1 ← 0 → +1). Then a span in a category C is a functor S : Λ → C.
Diagonal functor
In , a branch of mathematics, the diagonal functor is given by , which maps as well as morphisms. This functor can be employed to give a succinct alternate description of the product of objects within the : a product is a universal arrow from to . The arrow comprises the projection maps. More generally, given a , one may construct the , the objects of which are called . For each object in , there is a constant diagram that maps every object in to and every morphism in to .
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.
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.
Category of topological spaces
In mathematics, the category of topological spaces, often denoted Top, is the whose s are topological spaces and whose morphisms are continuous maps. This is a category because the composition of two continuous maps is again continuous, and the identity function is continuous. The study of Top and of properties of topological spaces using the techniques of is known as categorical topology. N.B. Some authors use the name Top for the categories with topological manifolds, with compactly generated spaces as objects and continuous maps as morphisms or with the .
Discrete category
In mathematics, in the field of , a discrete category is a category whose only morphisms are the identity morphisms: homC(X, X) = {idX} for all objects X homC(X, Y) = ∅ for all objects X ≠ Y Since by axioms, there is always the identity morphism between the same object, we can express the above as condition on the cardinality of the hom-set | homC(X, Y) | is 1 when X = Y and 0 when X is not equal to Y. Some authors prefer a weaker notion, where a discrete category merely needs to be equivalent to such a category.
Limit (category theory)
In , a branch of mathematics, the abstract notion of a limit captures the essential properties of universal constructions such as , and inverse limits. The of a colimit generalizes constructions such as disjoint unions, direct sums, coproducts, s and direct limits. Limits and colimits, like the strongly related notions of universal properties and adjoint functors, exist at a high level of abstraction. In order to understand them, it is helpful to first study the specific examples these concepts are meant to generalize.
Complete category
In mathematics, a complete category is a in which all small s exist. That is, a category C is complete if every F : J → C (where J is ) has a limit in C. , a cocomplete category is one in which all small colimits exist. A bicomplete category is a category which is both complete and cocomplete. The existence of all limits (even when J is a proper class) is too strong to be practically relevant. Any category with this property is necessarily a : for any two objects there can be at most one morphism from one object to the other.
Coequalizer
In , a coequalizer (or coequaliser) is a generalization of a quotient by an equivalence relation to objects in an arbitrary . It is the categorical construction to the equalizer. A coequalizer is a colimit of the diagram consisting of two objects X and Y and two parallel morphisms f, g : X → Y. More explicitly, a coequalizer of the parallel morphisms f and g can be defined as an object Q together with a morphism q : Y → Q such that q ∘ f = q ∘ g.
Pullback (category theory)
In , a branch of mathematics, a pullback (also called a fiber product, fibre product, fibered product or Cartesian square) is the of a consisting of two morphisms f : X → Z and g : Y → Z with a common codomain. The pullback is written P = X ×f, Z, g Y. Usually the morphisms f and g are omitted from the notation, and then the pullback is written P = X ×Z Y. The pullback comes equipped with two natural morphisms P → X and P → Y. The pullback of two morphisms f and g need not exist, but if it does, it is essentially uniquely defined by the two morphisms.