Initial And Terminal Objects
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): is terminal if for every object in there exists exactly one morphism . Initial objects are also called coterminal or universal, and terminal objects are also called final. If an object is both initial and terminal, it is called a zero object or null object. A pointed category is one with a zero object. A strict initial object is one for which every morphism into is an isomorphism. Examples * The empty set is the unique initial object in Set, the category of sets. Every one-element set (singleton) is a terminal object in this category; there are no zero objects. Similarly, the empty space is the unique initial object in Top, the category of topological spaces and every one-point space is a terminal object in this category. * I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Category Of Abelian Groups
In mathematics, the category Ab has the abelian groups as objects and group homomorphisms as morphisms. This is the prototype of an abelian category: indeed, every small abelian category can be embedded in Ab. Properties The zero object of Ab is the trivial group which consists only of its neutral element. The monomorphisms in Ab are the injective group homomorphisms, the epimorphisms are the surjective group homomorphisms, and the isomorphisms are the bijective group homomorphisms. Ab is a full subcategory of Grp, the category of ''all'' groups. The main difference between Ab and Grp is that the sum of two homomorphisms ''f'' and ''g'' between abelian groups is again a group homomorphism: :(''f''+''g'')(''x''+''y'') = ''f''(''x''+''y'') + ''g''(''x''+''y'') = ''f''(''x'') + ''f''(''y'') + ''g''(''x'') + ''g''(''y'') : = ''f''(''x'') + ''g''(''x'') + ''f''(''y'') + ''g''(''y'') = (''f''+''g'')(''x'') + (''f''+''g'')(''y'') The third e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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If And Only If
In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is biconditional (a statement of material equivalence), and can be likened to the standard material conditional ("only if", equal to "if ... then") combined with its reverse ("if"); hence the name. The result is that the truth of either one of the connected statements requires the truth of the other (i.e. either both statements are true, or both are false), though it is controversial whether the connective thus defined is properly rendered by the English "if and only if"—with its pre-existing meaning. For example, ''P if and only if Q'' means that ''P'' is true whenever ''Q'' is true, and the only case in which ''P'' is true is if ''Q'' is also true, whereas in the case of ''P if Q'', there could be other scenarios where ''P'' is true and ''Q'' is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Partially Ordered Set
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a Set (mathematics), set. A poset consists of a set together with a binary relation indicating that, for certain pairs of elements in the set, one of the elements precedes the other in the ordering. The relation itself is called a "partial order." The word ''partial'' in the names "partial order" and "partially ordered set" is used as an indication that not every pair of elements needs to be comparable. That is, there may be pairs of elements for which neither element precedes the other in the poset. Partial orders thus generalize total orders, in which every pair is comparable. Informal definition A partial order defines a notion of Comparability, comparison. Two elements ''x'' and ''y'' may stand in any of four mutually exclusive relationships to each other: either ''x'' ''y'', ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prime Field
In mathematics, the characteristic of a ring , often denoted , is defined to be the smallest number of times one must use the ring's multiplicative identity (1) in a sum to get the additive identity (0). If this sum never reaches the additive identity the ring is said to have characteristic zero. That is, is the smallest positive number such that: :\underbrace_ = 0 if such a number exists, and otherwise. Motivation The special definition of the characteristic zero is motivated by the equivalent definitions characterized in the next section, where the characteristic zero is not required to be considered separately. The characteristic may also be taken to be the exponent of the ring's additive group, that is, the smallest positive integer such that: :\underbrace_ = 0 for every element of the ring (again, if exists; otherwise zero). Some authors do not include the multiplicative identity element in their requirements for a ring (see Multiplicative identity and the te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Category Of Fields
In mathematics, the category of rings, denoted by Ring, is the category whose objects are rings (with identity) and whose morphisms are ring homomorphisms (that preserve the identity). Like many categories in mathematics, the category of rings is large, meaning that the class of all rings is proper. As a concrete category The category Ring is a concrete category meaning that the objects are sets with additional structure (addition and multiplication) and the morphisms are functions that preserve this structure. There is a natural forgetful functor :''U'' : Ring → Set for the category of rings to the category of sets which sends each ring to its underlying set (thus "forgetting" the operations of addition and multiplication). This functor has a left adjoint :''F'' : Set → Ring which assigns to each set ''X'' the free ring generated by ''X''. One can also view the category of rings as a concrete category over Ab (the category of abelian groups) or over Mon (the category of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Natural Number
In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country"). Numbers used for counting are called ''Cardinal number, cardinal numbers'', and numbers used for ordering are called ''Ordinal number, ordinal numbers''. Natural numbers are sometimes used as labels, known as ''nominal numbers'', having none of the properties of numbers in a mathematical sense (e.g. sports Number (sports), jersey numbers). Some definitions, including the standard ISO/IEC 80000, ISO 80000-2, begin the natural numbers with , corresponding to the non-negative integers , whereas others start with , corresponding to the positive integers Texts that exclude zero from the natural numbers sometimes refer to the natural numbers together with zero as the whole numbers, while in other writings, that term is used instead for the integers (including negative integers). The natural ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rig (mathematics)
In abstract algebra, a semiring is an algebraic structure similar to a ring, but without the requirement that each element must have an additive inverse. The term rig is also used occasionally—this originated as a joke, suggesting that rigs are ri''n''gs without ''n''egative elements, similar to using '' rng'' to mean a r''i''ng without a multiplicative ''i''dentity. Tropical semirings are an active area of research, linking algebraic varieties with piecewise linear structures. Definition A semiring is a set R equipped with two binary operations \,+\, and \,\cdot,\, called addition and multiplication, such that:Lothaire (2005) p.211Sakarovitch (2009) pp.27–28 * (R, +) is a commutative monoid with identity element 0: ** (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) ** 0 + a = a = a + 0 ** a + b = b + a * (R, \,\cdot\,) is a monoid with identity element 1: ** (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c) ** 1 \cdot a = a = a \cdot 1 * Multiplication left and right distributes over addition: ** ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zero Ring
In ring theory, a branch of mathematics, the zero ring or trivial ring is the unique ring (up to isomorphism) consisting of one element. (Less commonly, the term "zero ring" is used to refer to any rng of square zero, i.e., a rng in which for all ''x'' and ''y''. This article refers to the one-element ring.) In the category of rings, the zero ring is the terminal object, whereas the ring of integers Z is the initial object. Definition The zero ring, denoted or simply 0, consists of the one-element set with the operations + and · defined such that 0 + 0 = 0 and 0 · 0 = 0. Properties * The zero ring is the unique ring in which the additive identity 0 and multiplicative identity 1 coincide. (Proof: If in a ring ''R'', then for all ''r'' in ''R'', we have . The proof of the last equality is found here.) * The zero ring is commutative. * The element 0 in the zero ring is a unit, serving as its own multiplicative inverse. * The unit group of the zero ring is the trivial gr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Integer
An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign (−1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the language of mathematics, the set of integers is often denoted by the boldface or blackboard bold \mathbb. The set of natural numbers \mathbb is a subset of \mathbb, which in turn is a subset of the set of all rational numbers \mathbb, itself a subset of the real numbers \mathbb. Like the natural numbers, \mathbb is countably infinite. An integer may be regarded as a real number that can be written without a fractional component. For example, 21, 4, 0, and −2048 are integers, while 9.75, , and are not. The integers form the smallest group and the smallest ring containing the natural numbers. In algebraic number theory, the integers are sometimes qualified as rational integers to distinguish them from the more general algebraic integers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Category Of Rings
In mathematics, the category of rings, denoted by Ring, is the category whose objects are rings (with identity) and whose morphisms are ring homomorphisms (that preserve the identity). Like many categories in mathematics, the category of rings is large, meaning that the class of all rings is proper. As a concrete category The category Ring is a concrete category meaning that the objects are sets with additional structure (addition and multiplication) and the morphisms are functions that preserve this structure. There is a natural forgetful functor :''U'' : Ring → Set for the category of rings to the category of sets which sends each ring to its underlying set (thus "forgetting" the operations of addition and multiplication). This functor has a left adjoint :''F'' : Set → Ring which assigns to each set ''X'' the free ring generated by ''X''. One can also view the category of rings as a concrete category over Ab (the category of abelian groups) or over Mon (the category of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zero Object (algebra)
In algebra, the zero object of a given algebraic structure is, in the sense explained below, the simplest object of such structure. As a set it is a singleton, and as a magma has a trivial structure, which is also an abelian group. The aforementioned abelian group structure is usually identified as addition, and the only element is called zero, so the object itself is typically denoted as . One often refers to ''the'' trivial object (of a specified category) since every trivial object is isomorphic to any other (under a unique isomorphism). Instances of the zero object include, but are not limited to the following: * As a group, the zero group or trivial group. * As a ring, the zero ring or trivial ring. * As an algebra over a field or algebra over a ring, the trivial algebra. * As a module (over a ring ), the zero module. The term trivial module is also used, although it may be ambiguous, as a ''trivial G-module'' is a G-module with a trivial action. * As a vector space ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |