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Functor
In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a mapping between categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which category theory is applied. The words ''category'' and ''functor'' were borrowed by mathematicians from the philosophers Aristotle and Rudolf Carnap, respectively. The latter used ''functor'' in a linguistic context; see function word. Definition Let ''C'' and ''D'' be categories. A functor ''F'' from ''C'' to ''D'' is a mapping that * associates each object X in ''C'' to an object F(X) in ''D'', * associates each morphism f \colon X \to Y in ''C'' to a morphism F(f) \colon F(X) \to F(Y) in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Functor
In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a mapping between categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which category theory is applied. The words ''category'' and ''functor'' were borrowed by mathematicians from the philosophers Aristotle and Rudolf Carnap, respectively. The latter used ''functor'' in a linguistic context; see function word. Definition Let ''C'' and ''D'' be categories. A functor ''F'' from ''C'' to ''D'' is a mapping that * associates each object X in ''C'' to an object F(X) in ''D'', * associates each morphism f \colon X \to Y in ''C'' to a morphism F(f) \colon F(X) \to F(Y) in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hom Functor
In mathematics, specifically in category theory, hom-sets (i.e. sets of morphisms between objects) give rise to important functors to the category of sets. These functors are called hom-functors and have numerous applications in category theory and other branches of mathematics. Formal definition Let ''C'' be a locally small category (i.e. a category for which hom-classes are actually sets and not proper classes). For all objects ''A'' and ''B'' in ''C'' we define two functors to the category of sets as follows: : The functor Hom(–, ''B'') is also called the '' functor of points'' of the object ''B''. Note that fixing the first argument of Hom naturally gives rise to a covariant functor and fixing the second argument naturally gives a contravariant functor. This is an artifact of the way in which one must compose the morphisms. The pair of functors Hom(''A'', –) and Hom(–, ''B'') are related in a natural manner. For any pair of morphisms ''f'' : ''B'' → ''B ... [...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 com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diagram (category Theory)
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a diagram is the categorical analogue of an indexed family in set theory. The primary difference is that in the categorical setting one has morphisms that also need indexing. An indexed family of sets is a collection of sets, indexed by a fixed set; equivalently, a ''function'' from a fixed index ''set'' to the class of ''sets''. A diagram is a collection of objects and morphisms, indexed by a fixed category; equivalently, a ''functor'' from a fixed index ''category'' to some ''category''. The universal functor of a diagram is the diagonal functor; its right adjoint is the limit of the diagram and its left adjoint is the colimit. The natural transformation from the diagonal functor to some arbitrary diagram is called a cone. Definition Formally, a diagram of type ''J'' in a category ''C'' is a ( covariant) functor The category ''J'' is called the index category or the scheme of the diagram ''D''; the functor is sometimes called a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covariance And Contravariance Of Vectors
In physics, especially in multilinear algebra and tensor analysis, covariance and contravariance describe how the quantitative description of certain geometric or physical entities changes with a change of basis. In modern mathematical notation, the role is sometimes swapped. In physics, a basis is sometimes thought of as a set of reference axes. A change of scale on the reference axes corresponds to a change of units in the problem. For instance, by changing scale from meters to centimeters (that is, ''dividing'' the scale of the reference axes by 100), the components of a measured velocity vector are ''multiplied'' by 100. A vector changes scale ''inversely'' to changes in scale to the reference axes, and consequently is called ''contravariant''. As a result, a vector often has units of distance or distance with other units (as, for example, velocity has units of distance divided by time). In contrast, a covector, also called a ''dual vector'', typically has units of ... [...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 large category, and therefore not an object of itself. In order to avoid problems analogous to [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commutative Diagram
350px, The commutative diagram used in the proof of the five lemma. In mathematics, and especially in category theory, a commutative diagram is a diagram such that all directed paths in the diagram with the same start and endpoints lead to the same result. It is said that commutative diagrams play the role in category theory that equations play in algebra. Description A commutative diagram often consists of three parts: * objects (also known as ''vertices'') * morphisms (also known as ''arrows'' or ''edges'') * paths or composites Arrow symbols In algebra texts, the type of morphism can be denoted with different arrow usages: * A monomorphism may be labeled with a \hookrightarrow or a \rightarrowtail. * An epimorphism may be labeled with a \twoheadrightarrow. * An isomorphism may be labeled with a \overset. * The dashed arrow typically represents the claim that the indicated morphism exists (whenever the rest of the diagram holds); the arrow may be optionally labeled as \exi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Product Category
In the mathematical field of category theory, the product of two categories ''C'' and ''D'', denoted and called a product category, is an extension of the concept of the Cartesian product of two sets. Product categories are used to define bifunctors and multifunctors. Definition The product category has: *as objects: *:pairs of objects , where ''A'' is an object of ''C'' and ''B'' of ''D''; *as arrows from to : *:pairs of arrows , where is an arrow of ''C'' and is an arrow of ''D''; *as composition, component-wise composition from the contributing categories: *:; *as identities, pairs of identities from the contributing categories: *:1(''A'', ''B'') = (1''A'', 1''B''). Relation to other categorical concepts For small categories, this is the same as the action on objects of the categorical product in the category Cat. A functor whose domain is a product category is known as a bifunctor. An important example is the Hom functor, which has the product of the opposite of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opposite Category
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the opposite category or dual category ''C''op of a given category ''C'' is formed by reversing the morphisms, i.e. interchanging the source and target of each morphism. Doing the reversal twice yields the original category, so the opposite of an opposite category is the original category itself. In symbols, (C^)^ = C. Examples * An example comes from reversing the direction of inequalities in a partial order. So if ''X'' is a set and ≤ a partial order relation, we can define a new partial order relation ≤op by :: ''x'' ≤op ''y'' if and only if ''y'' ≤ ''x''. : The new order is commonly called dual order of ≤, and is mostly denoted by ≥. Therefore, duality plays an important role in order theory and every purely order theoretic concept has a dual. For example, there are opposite pairs child/parent, descendant/ancestor, infimum/supremum, down-set/up-set, ideal/ filter etc. This order theoretic duality is in turn a special ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fundamental Group
In the mathematical field of algebraic topology, the fundamental group of a topological space is the group of the equivalence classes under homotopy of the loops contained in the space. It records information about the basic shape, or holes, of the topological space. The fundamental group is the first and simplest homotopy group. The fundamental group is a homotopy invariant—topological spaces that are homotopy equivalent (or the stronger case of homeomorphic) have isomorphic fundamental groups. The fundamental group of a topological space X is denoted by \pi_1(X). Intuition Start with a space (for example, a surface), and some point in it, and all the loops both starting and ending at this point— paths that start at this point, wander around and eventually return to the starting point. Two loops can be combined in an obvious way: travel along the first loop, then along the second. Two loops are considered equivalent if one can be deformed into the other without break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algebraic Topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariants that classify topological spaces up to homeomorphism, though usually most classify up to homotopy equivalence. Although algebraic topology primarily uses algebra to study topological problems, using topology to solve algebraic problems is sometimes also possible. Algebraic topology, for example, allows for a convenient proof that any subgroup of a free group is again a free group. Main branches of algebraic topology Below are some of the main areas studied in algebraic topology: Homotopy groups In mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or holes, of a topological space. Homology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isomorphism
In mathematics, an isomorphism is a structure-preserving mapping between two structures of the same type that can be reversed by an inverse mapping. Two mathematical structures are isomorphic if an isomorphism exists between them. The word isomorphism is derived from the Ancient Greek: ἴσος ''isos'' "equal", and μορφή ''morphe'' "form" or "shape". The interest in isomorphisms lies in the fact that two isomorphic objects have the same properties (excluding further information such as additional structure or names of objects). Thus isomorphic structures cannot be distinguished from the point of view of structure only, and may be identified. In mathematical jargon, one says that two objects are . An automorphism is an isomorphism from a structure to itself. An isomorphism between two structures is a canonical isomorphism (a canonical map that is an isomorphism) if there is only one isomorphism between the two structures (as it is the case for solutions of a uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
