The following

outline Outline or outlining may refer to: * Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format * Code folding, a method of hiding or collapsing code or text to see content in outline form * Outline drawing, a sketch depicting the outer edge ...

is provided as an overview of and guide to

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, cate ...

, the area of study in

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 ...

that examines in an abstract way the properties of particular mathematical concepts, by formalising them as collections of ''objects'' and ''arrows'' (also called

morphism In mathematics, particularly in category theory, a morphism is a structure-preserving map from one mathematical structure to another one of the same type. The notion of morphism recurs in much of contemporary mathematics. In set theory, morphisms a ...

s, although this term also has a specific, non category-theoretical sense), where these collections satisfy certain basic conditions. Many significant areas of mathematics can be formalised as categories, and the use of category theory allows many intricate and subtle mathematical results in these fields to be stated, and proved, in a much simpler way than without the use of categories.

Essence of category theory

Category Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses * Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) * ...

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Functor In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a Map (mathematics), mapping between Category (mathematics), categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) ar ...

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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 natur ...

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Branches of category theory

Homological algebra Homological algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies homology (mathematics), homology in a general algebraic setting. It is a relatively young discipline, whose origins can be traced to investigations in combinatorial topology (a precurs ...

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Diagram chasing 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 th ...

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Topos theory In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notion ...

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Enriched category In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an enriched category generalizes the idea of a category by replacing hom-sets with objects from a general monoidal category. It is motivated by the observation that, in many practical applications, the ho ...

theory – *

Higher category theory In mathematics, higher category theory is the part of category theory at a ''higher order'', which means that some equalities are replaced by explicit arrows in order to be able to explicitly study the structure behind those equalities. Higher cate ...

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Categorical logic __NOTOC__ Categorical logic is the branch of mathematics in which tools and concepts from category theory are applied to the study of mathematical logic. It is also notable for its connections to theoretical computer science. In broad terms, categ ...

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Specific categories

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 m ...

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Concrete category In mathematics, a concrete category is a category that is equipped with a faithful functor to the category of sets (or sometimes to another category, ''see Relative concreteness below''). This functor makes it possible to think of the objects of ...

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Category of vector spaces In algebra, given a ring ''R'', the category of left modules over ''R'' is the category whose objects are all left modules over ''R'' and whose morphisms are all module homomorphisms between left ''R''-modules. For example, when ''R'' is the ring o ...

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Category of graded vector spaces In mathematics, a graded vector space is a vector space that has the extra structure of a '' grading'' or a ''gradation'', which is a decomposition of the vector space into a direct sum of vector subspaces. Integer gradation Let \mathbb be the ...

– * Category of chain complexes – *

Category of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces In mathematics, the category FdHilb has all finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces for objects and the linear transformations between them as morphisms. Properties This category * is monoidal, * possesses finite biproducts, and * is dagger compact. ...

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Category of sets and relations In mathematics, the category Rel has the class of sets as objects and binary relations as morphisms. A morphism (or arrow) ''R'' : ''A'' → ''B'' in this category is a relation between the sets ''A'' and ''B'', so . The composition of two rela ...

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Category of topological spaces In mathematics, the category of topological spaces, often denoted Top, is the category whose objects are topological spaces and whose morphisms are continuous maps. This is a category because the composition of two continuous maps is again contin ...

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Category of metric spaces In category theory, Met is a category that has metric spaces as its objects and metric maps (continuous functions between metric spaces that do not increase any pairwise distance) as its morphisms. This is a category because the composition of tw ...

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Category of preordered sets In mathematics, the category Ord has preordered sets as objects and order-preserving functions as morphisms. This is a category because the composition of two order-preserving functions is order preserving and the identity map is order preserving. ...

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Category of groups In mathematics, the category Grp (or Gp) has the class of all groups for objects and group homomorphisms for morphisms. As such, it is a concrete category. The study of this category is known as group theory. Relation to other categories There a ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Category of magmas In abstract algebra, a magma, binar, or, rarely, groupoid is a basic kind of algebraic structure. Specifically, a magma consists of a set equipped with a single binary operation that must be closed by definition. No other properties are imposed. ...

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Category of medial magmas In mathematics, the category of medial magmas, also known as the medial category, and denoted Med, is the category whose objects are medial magmas (that is, sets with a medial binary operation), and whose morphisms are magma homomorphisms (which ...

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Objects

Initial object 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): ...

– * Terminal object – * Zero object – *

Subobject In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a subobject is, roughly speaking, an object that sits inside another object in the same category. The notion is a generalization of concepts such as subsets from set theory, subgroups from group theory,M ...

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Group object In category theory, a branch of mathematics, group objects are certain generalizations of groups that are built on more complicated structures than sets. A typical example of a group object is a topological group, a group whose underlying set is ...

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Magma object Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

– * Natural number object – * Exponential object –

Morphisms

* Epimorphism – * Monomorphism – * Zero morphism – * Normal morphism – * Dual (category theory) – * Groupoid – *

Image (category theory) In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the image of a morphism is a generalization of the image of a function. General definition Given a category C and a morphism f\colon X\to Y in C , the image of f is a monomorphism m\colon I\to ...

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Coimage In algebra, the coimage of a homomorphism :f : A \rightarrow B is the quotient :\text f = A/\ker(f) of the domain by the kernel. The coimage is canonically isomorphic to the image by the first isomorphism theorem, when that theorem applies. M ...

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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 s ...

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Cartesian morphism Fibred categories (or fibered categories) are abstract entities in mathematics used to provide a general framework for descent theory. They formalise the various situations in geometry and algebra in which ''inverse images'' (or ''pull-backs'') of ...

– * Slice category –

Functors

* Isomorphism of categories – *

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Equivalence of categories In category theory, a branch of abstract mathematics, an equivalence of categories is a relation between two categories that establishes that these categories are "essentially the same". There are numerous examples of categorical equivalences fro ...

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Subcategory In mathematics, specifically category theory, a subcategory of a category ''C'' is a category ''S'' whose objects are objects in ''C'' and whose morphisms are morphisms in ''C'' with the same identities and composition of morphisms. Intuitivel ...

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Faithful functor In category theory, a faithful functor is a functor that is injective on hom-sets, and a full functor is surjective on hom-sets. A functor that has both properties is called a full and faithful functor. Formal definitions Explicitly, let ''C'' an ...

– * Full functor – * Forgetful functor – *

Yoneda lemma 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 (view ...

– * Representable functor – * Functor category – * Adjoint functors – **

Galois connection In mathematics, especially in order theory, a Galois connection is a particular correspondence (typically) between two partially ordered sets (posets). Galois connections find applications in various mathematical theories. They generalize the funda ...

– ** Pontryagin duality – **

Affine scheme In commutative algebra, the prime spectrum (or simply the spectrum) of a ring ''R'' is the set of all prime ideals of ''R'', and is usually denoted by \operatorname; in algebraic geometry it is simultaneously a topological space equipped with the ...

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Monad (category theory) In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a monad (also triple, triad, standard construction and fundamental construction) is a monoid in the category of endofunctors. An endofunctor is a functor mapping a category to itself, and a monad is an ...

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Comonad In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a monad (also triple, triad, standard construction and fundamental construction) is a monoid in the category of endofunctors. An endofunctor is a functor mapping a category to itself, and a monad is an ...

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Combinatorial species In combinatorial mathematics, the theory of combinatorial species is an abstract, systematic method for deriving the generating functions of discrete structures, which allows one to not merely count these structures but give bijective proofs invol ...

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Exact functor In mathematics, particularly homological algebra, an exact functor is a functor that preserves short exact sequences. Exact functors are convenient for algebraic calculations because they can be directly applied to presentations of objects. Much o ...

– * Derived functor – * Dominant functor – *

Enriched functor Enrichment may refer to: * Behavioral enrichment, the practice of providing animals under managed care with stimuli such as natural and artificial objects * Data enrichment, appending or enhancing data with relevant context from other sources, se ...

– * Kan extension of a functor – * Hom functor –

Limits

Product (category theory) In category theory, the product of two (or more) objects in a category is a notion designed to capture the essence behind constructions in other areas of mathematics such as the Cartesian product of sets, the direct product of groups or rings, ...

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Equaliser (mathematics) In mathematics, an equaliser is a set of arguments where two or more functions have equal values. An equaliser is the solution set of an equation. In certain contexts, a difference kernel is the equaliser of exactly two functions. Definitions ...

– * Kernel (category theory) – * Pullback (category theory)/ fiber product – * Inverse limit – **

Pro-finite group In mathematics, a profinite group is a topological group that is in a certain sense assembled from a system of finite groups. The idea of using a profinite group is to provide a "uniform", or "synoptic", view of an entire system of finite groups ...

– * Colimit – ** Coproduct – ** Coequalizer – ** Cokernel – ** Pushout (category theory) – **

Direct limit In mathematics, a direct limit is a way to construct a (typically large) object from many (typically smaller) objects that are put together in a specific way. These objects may be groups, rings, vector spaces or in general objects from any categor ...

– * Biproduct – **

Direct sum The direct sum is an operation between structures in abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics. It is defined differently, but analogously, for different kinds of structures. To see how the direct sum is used in abstract algebra, consider a more ...

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Additive structure

* Preadditive category – *

Additive category In mathematics, specifically in category theory, an additive category is a preadditive category C admitting all finitary biproducts. Definition A category C is preadditive if all its hom-sets are abelian groups and composition of m ...

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Pre-Abelian category In mathematics, specifically in category theory, a pre-abelian category is an additive category that has all kernels and cokernels. Spelled out in more detail, this means that a category C is pre-abelian if: # C is preadditive, that is enric ...

– * Abelian category – ** Exact sequence – **

– ** Snake lemma – ***

Nine lemma right In mathematics, the nine lemma (or 3×3 lemma) is a statement about commutative diagrams and exact sequences valid in the category of groups and any abelian category. It states: if the diagram to the right is a commutative diagram and all colu ...

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Five lemma In mathematics, especially homological algebra and other applications of abelian category theory, the five lemma is an important and widely used lemma about commutative diagrams. The five lemma is not only valid for abelian categories but also w ...

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Short five lemma In mathematics, especially homological algebra and other applications of abelian category theory, the short five lemma is a special case of the five lemma. It states that for the following commutative diagram (in any abelian category, or in the cat ...

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Mitchell's embedding theorem Mitchell's embedding theorem, also known as the Freyd–Mitchell theorem or the full embedding theorem, is a result about abelian categories; it essentially states that these categories, while rather abstractly defined, are in fact concrete categor ...

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Injective cogenerator In category theory, a branch of mathematics, the concept of an injective cogenerator is drawn from examples such as Pontryagin duality. Generators are objects which cover other objects as an approximation, and (dually) cogenerators are objects whi ...

– * Derived category – * Triangulated category – *

Model category In mathematics, particularly in homotopy theory, a model category is a category with distinguished classes of morphisms ('arrows') called ' weak equivalences', ' fibrations' and 'cofibrations' satisfying certain axioms relating them. These abstrac ...

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2-category In category theory, a strict 2-category is a category with "morphisms between morphisms", that is, where each hom-set itself carries the structure of a category. It can be formally defined as a category enriched over Cat (the category of catego ...

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Dagger categories

* Dagger symmetric monoidal category – * Dagger compact category – *

Strongly ribbon category In mathematics, a ribbon category, also called a tortile category, is a particular type of braided monoidal category. Definition A monoidal category \mathcal C is, loosely speaking, a category equipped with a notion resembling the tensor product ...

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Monoidal categories

* Closed monoidal category – *

Braided monoidal category In mathematics, a ''commutativity constraint'' \gamma on a monoidal category ''\mathcal'' is a choice of isomorphism \gamma_ : A\otimes B \rightarrow B\otimes A for each pair of objects ''A'' and ''B'' which form a "natural family." In particu ...

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Cartesian closed category

* Topos * Category of small categories

Structure

Semigroupoid In mathematics, a semigroupoid (also called semicategory, naked category or precategory) is a partial algebra that satisfies the axioms for a smallSee e.g. , which requires the objects of a semigroupoid to form a set. category, except possibly for ...

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Comma category In mathematics, a comma category (a special case being a slice category) is a construction in category theory. It provides another way of looking at morphisms: instead of simply relating objects of a category to one another, morphisms become objec ...

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Localization of a category In mathematics, localization of a category consists of adding to a category inverse morphisms for some collection of morphisms, constraining them to become isomorphisms. This is formally similar to the process of localization of a ring; it in genera ...

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– * Bicategory –

Topoi, toposes

* Sheaf – *

Gluing axiom In mathematics, the gluing axiom is introduced to define what a sheaf \mathcal F on a topological space X must satisfy, given that it is a presheaf, which is by definition a contravariant functor ::(X) \rightarrow C to a category C which initiall ...

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Descent (category theory) In mathematics, the idea of descent extends the intuitive idea of 'gluing' in topology. Since the quotient space (topology), topologists' glue is the use of equivalence relations on topological spaces, the theory starts with some ideas on identifi ...

– * Grothendieck topology – * Introduction to topos theory – * Subobject classifier – *

Pointless topology In mathematics, pointless topology, also called point-free topology (or pointfree topology) and locale theory, is an approach to topology that avoids mentioning points, and in which the lattices of open sets are the primitive notions. In this appr ...

– * Heyting algebra –

History of category theory

* History of category theory

Persons influential in the field of category theory

Category theory scholars

* Saunders Mac Lane * Samuel Eilenberg *

Max Kelly Gregory Maxwell "Max" Kelly (5 June 1930 – 26 January 2007) was an Australian mathematician who worked on category theory. Biography Kelly was born in Bondi, New South Wales, Australia, on 5 June 1930. He obtained his PhD at Cambridge Univ ...

* William Lawvere * André Joyal

References

{{Outline footer

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, cate ...

Essence of category theory

Branches of category theory

Specific categories

Objects

Morphisms

Functors

Limits

Additive structure

Dagger categories

Monoidal categories

Cartesian closed category

Structure

Topoi, toposes

History of category theory

Persons influential in the field of category theory

Category theory scholars

See also

References