Correspondence (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, profunctors are a generalization of relations and also of bimodules. Definition A profunctor (also named distributor by the French school and module by the Sydney school) \,\phi from a category C to a category D, written :\phi \colon C\nrightarrow D, is defined to be a functor :\phi \colon D^\times C\to\mathbf where D^\mathrm denotes the opposite category of D and \mathbf denotes the category of sets. Given morphisms f\colon d\to d', g\colon c\to c' respectively in D, C and an element x\in\phi(d',c), we write xf\in \phi(d,c), gx\in\phi(d',c') to denote the actions. Using the cartesian closure of \mathbf, the category of small categories, the profunctor \phi can be seen as a functor :\hat \colon C\to\hat where \hat denotes the category \mathrm^ of presheaves over D. A correspondence from C to D is a profunctor D\nrightarrow C. Profunctors as categories An equivalent definition of a profunctor \phi \colon C\nrightar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Category Theory
Category 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. Nowadays, category theory is used in almost all areas of mathematics, and in some areas of computer science. In particular, many constructions of new mathematical objects from previous ones, that appear similarly in several contexts are conveniently expressed and unified in terms of categories. Examples include quotient spaces, direct products, completion, and duality. A category is formed by two sorts of objects: the objects of the category, and the morphisms, which relate two objects called the ''source'' and the ''target'' of the morphism. One often says that a morphism is an ''arrow'' that ''maps'' its source to its target. Morphisms can be ''composed'' if the target of the first morphism equals the source of the second one, and morphism compos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Category Of Small Categories
In mathematics, specifically in category theory, the category of small categories, denoted by Cat, is the category whose objects are all small categories and whose morphisms are functors between categories. Cat may actually be regarded as a 2-category 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. at nLab The category Cat is itself a , and therefore not an object of itself. In order to avoid problems analogous to [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Natural Transformation
In category theory, 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 categories 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 functor categories. Natural transformations are, after categories and functors, one of the most fundamental notions of category theory and consequently appear in the majority of its applications. Definition If F and G are functors between the categories C and D , then a natural transformation \eta from F to G is a family of morphisms that satisfies two requirements. # The natural transformation must associate, to every object X in C, a morphism \eta_X : F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Small Category
In mathematics, a category (sometimes called an abstract category to distinguish it from a concrete category) 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 category of sets, whose objects are sets and whose arrows are functions. ''Category theory'' is a branch of mathematics that seeks to generalize all of mathematics in terms of categories, independent of what their objects and arrows represent. Virtually every branch of modern mathematics can be described in terms of categories, and doing so often reveals deep insights and similarities between seemingly different areas of mathematics. As such, category theory provides an alternative foundation for mathematics to set theory and other proposed axiomatic foundations. In general, the objects and arrows may be abstract entities of any kind, and the no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bicategory
In mathematics, a bicategory (or a weak 2-category) is a concept in category theory used to extend the notion of category to handle the cases where the composition of morphisms is not (strictly) associative, but only associative ''up to'' an isomorphism. The notion was introduced in 1967 by Jean Bénabou. Bicategories may be considered as a weakening of the definition of 2-categories. A similar process for 3-categories leads to tricategories, and more generally to weak ''n''-categories for ''n''-categories. Definition Formally, a bicategory B consists of: * objects ''a'', ''b'', ... called 0-''cells''; * morphisms ''f'', ''g'', ... with fixed source and target objects called 1-''cells''; * "morphisms between morphisms" ρ, σ, ... with fixed source and target morphisms (which should have themselves the same source and the same target), called 2-''cells''; with some more structure: * given two objects ''a'' and ''b'' there is a category B(''a'', ''b'') whose objects are the 1- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
End (category Theory)
In category theory, an end of a functor S:\mathbf^\times\mathbf\to \mathbf is a universal extranatural transformation from an object ''e'' of X to ''S''. More explicitly, this is a pair (e,\omega), where ''e'' is an object of X and \omega:e\ddot\to S is an extranatural transformation such that for every extranatural transformation \beta : x\ddot\to S there exists a unique morphism h:x\to e of X with \beta_a=\omega_a\circ h for every object ''a'' of C. By abuse of language the object ''e'' is often called the ''end'' of the functor ''S'' (forgetting \omega) and is written :e=\int_c^ S(c,c)\text\int_\mathbf^ S. Characterization as limit: If X is complete and C is small, the end can be described as the equalizer in the diagram :\int_c S(c, c) \to \prod_ S(c, c) \rightrightarrows \prod_ S(c, c'), where the first morphism being equalized is induced by S(c, c) \to S(c, c') and the second is induced by S(c', c') \to S(c, c'). Coend The definition of the coend of a functor S:\ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Yoneda Functor
In mathematics, the Yoneda lemma is arguably the most important result in category theory. It is an abstract result on functors of the type ''morphisms into a fixed object''. It is a vast generalisation of Cayley's theorem from group theory (viewing a group as a miniature category with just one object and only isomorphisms). It allows the embedding of any locally small category into a category of functors (contravariant set-valued functors) defined on that category. It also clarifies how the embedded category, of representable functors and their natural transformations, relates to the other objects in the larger functor category. It is an important tool that underlies several modern developments in algebraic geometry and representation theory. It is named after Nobuo Yoneda. Generalities The Yoneda lemma suggests that instead of studying the locally small category \mathcal , one should study the category of all functors of \mathcal into \mathbf (the category of sets with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kan Extension
Kan extensions are universal constructs in category theory, a branch of mathematics. They are closely related to adjoints, but are also related to limits and ends. They are named after Daniel M. Kan, who constructed certain (Kan) extensions using limits in 1960. An early use of (what is now known as) a Kan extension from 1956 was in homological algebra to compute derived functors. In ''Categories for the Working Mathematician'' Saunders Mac Lane titled a section "All Concepts Are Kan Extensions", and went on to write that :The notion of Kan extensions subsumes all the other fundamental concepts of category theory. Kan extensions generalize the notion of extending a function defined on a subset to a function defined on the whole set. The definition, not surprisingly, is at a high level of abstraction. When specialised to posets, it becomes a relatively familiar type of question on constrained optimization. Definition A Kan extension proceeds from the data of three categor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Presheaf (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a presheaf on a category C is a functor F\colon C^\mathrm\to\mathbf. If C is the poset of open sets in a topological space, interpreted as a category, then one recovers the usual notion of presheaf on a topological space. A morphism of presheaves is defined to be a natural transformation of functors. This makes the collection of all presheaves on C into a category, and is an example of a functor category. It is often written as \widehat = \mathbf^. A functor into \widehat is sometimes called a profunctor. A presheaf that is naturally isomorphic to the contravariant hom-functor Hom(–, ''A'') for some object ''A'' of C is called a representable presheaf. Some authors refer to a functor F\colon C^\mathrm\to\mathbf as a \mathbf-valued presheaf. Examples * A simplicial set is a Set-valued presheaf on the simplex category C=\Delta. Properties * When C is a small category, the functor category \widehat=\mathbf^ is cartesian closed. * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cartesian Closed Category
In category theory, a category is Cartesian closed if, roughly speaking, any morphism defined on a product of two objects can be naturally identified with a morphism defined on one of the factors. These categories are particularly important in mathematical logic and the theory of programming, in that their internal language is the simply typed lambda calculus. They are generalized by closed monoidal categories, whose internal language, linear type systems, are suitable for both quantum and classical computation. Etymology Named after (1596–1650), French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, whose formulation of analytic geometry gave rise to the concept of Cartesian product, which was later generalized to the notion of categorical product. Definition The category ''C'' is called Cartesian closed if and only if it satisfies the following three properties: * It has a terminal object. * Any two objects ''X'' and ''Y'' of ''C'' have a product ''X'' ×''Y'' in ''C' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Category Of Sets
In the mathematical field of category theory, the category of sets, denoted as Set, is the category whose objects 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 category of groups, 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. Properties of the category of sets The axioms of a category are satisfied by Set because composition of functions is associative, and because every set ''X'' has an identity function id''X'' : ''X'' → ''X'' which serves as identity element for function composition. The epimorphisms in Set are the surjective maps, the monomorphisms are the injective maps, and the isomorphisms are the bijective maps. The empty set serves as the initial object in Set with empty functions as morphisms. Every s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |