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Category-theoretic
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 space (other), quotient spaces, direct products, completion (other)#Mathematics, completion, and duality (mathematics), duality. A category (mathematics), category is formed by two sorts of mathematical object, objects: the object (category theory), 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'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duality (mathematics)
In mathematics, a duality translates concepts, theorems or mathematical structures into other concepts, theorems or structures, in a one-to-one fashion, often (but not always) by means of an involution operation: if the dual of is , then the dual of is . Such involutions sometimes have fixed points, so that the dual of is itself. For example, Desargues' theorem is self-dual in this sense under the ''standard duality in projective geometry''. In mathematical contexts, ''duality'' has numerous meanings. It has been described as "a very pervasive and important concept in (modern) mathematics" and "an important general theme that has manifestations in almost every area of mathematics". Many mathematical dualities between objects of two types correspond to pairings, bilinear functions from an object of one type and another object of the second type to some family of scalars. For instance, ''linear algebra duality'' corresponds in this way to bilinear maps from pairs of vecto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Function Composition
In mathematics, function composition is an operation that takes two functions and , and produces a function such that . In this operation, the function is applied to the result of applying the function to . That is, the functions and are composed to yield a function that maps in domain to in codomain . Intuitively, if is a function of , and is a function of , then is a function of . The resulting ''composite'' function is denoted , defined by for all in . The notation is read as " of ", " after ", " circle ", " round ", " about ", " composed with ", " following ", " then ", or " on ", or "the composition of and ". Intuitively, composing functions is a chaining process in which the output of function feeds the input of function . The composition of functions is a special case of the composition of relations, sometimes also denoted by \circ. As a result, all properties of composition of relations are true of composition of functions, such as ... [...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. Homolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commutative Diagram For Morphism
In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Most familiar as the name of the property that says something like or , the property can also be used in more advanced settings. The name is needed because there are operations, such as division and subtraction, that do not have it (for example, ); such operations are ''not'' commutative, and so are referred to as ''noncommutative operations''. The idea that simple operations, such as the multiplication and addition of numbers, are commutative was for many years implicitly assumed. Thus, this property was not named until the 19th century, when mathematics started to become formalized. A similar property exists for binary relations; a binary relation is said to be symmetric if the relation applies regardless of the order of its operands; for example, equality is sym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contravariant 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 ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Class (set Theory)
In set theory and its applications throughout mathematics, a class is a collection of sets (or sometimes other mathematical objects) that can be unambiguously defined by a property that all its members share. Classes act as a way to have set-like collections while differing from sets so as to avoid Russell's paradox (see ). The precise definition of "class" depends on foundational context. In work on Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, the notion of class is informal, whereas other set theories, such as von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory, axiomatize the notion of "proper class", e.g., as entities that are not members of another entity. A class that is not a set (informally in Zermelo–Fraenkel) is called a proper class, and a class that is a set is sometimes called a small class. For instance, the class of all ordinal numbers, and the class of all sets, are proper classes in many formal systems. In Quine's set-theoretical writing, the phrase "ultimate class" is often used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Map (mathematics)
In mathematics, a map or mapping is a function in its general sense. These terms may have originated as from the process of making a geographical map: ''mapping'' the Earth surface to a sheet of paper. The term ''map'' may be used to distinguish some special types of functions, such as homomorphisms. For example, a linear map is a homomorphism of vector spaces, while the term linear function may have this meaning or it may mean a linear polynomial. In category theory, a map may refer to a morphism. The term ''transformation'' can be used interchangeably, but '' transformation'' often refers to a function from a set to itself. There are also a few less common uses in logic and graph theory. Maps as functions In many branches of mathematics, the term ''map'' is used to mean a function, sometimes with a specific property of particular importance to that branch. For instance, a "map" is a " continuous function" in topology, a " linear transformation" in linear algebra, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associativity
In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations, which means that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a valid rule of replacement for expressions in logical proofs. Within an expression containing two or more occurrences in a row of the same associative operator, the order in which the operations are performed does not matter as long as the sequence of the operands is not changed. That is (after rewriting the expression with parentheses and in infix notation if necessary), rearranging the parentheses in such an expression will not change its value. Consider the following equations: \begin (2 + 3) + 4 &= 2 + (3 + 4) = 9 \,\\ 2 \times (3 \times 4) &= (2 \times 3) \times 4 = 24 . \end Even though the parentheses were rearranged on each line, the values of the expressions were not altered. Since this holds true when performing addition and multiplication on any real ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binary Operation
In mathematics, a binary operation or dyadic operation is a rule for combining two elements (called operands) to produce another element. More formally, a binary operation is an operation of arity two. More specifically, an internal binary operation ''on a set'' is a binary operation whose two domains and the codomain are the same set. Examples include the familiar arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Other examples are readily found in different areas of mathematics, such as vector addition, matrix multiplication, and conjugation in groups. An operation of arity two that involves several sets is sometimes also called a ''binary operation''. For example, scalar multiplication of vector spaces takes a scalar and a vector to produce a vector, and scalar product takes two vectors to produce a scalar. Such binary operations may be called simply binary functions. Binary operations are the keystone of most algebraic structures that are s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monoid
In abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics, a monoid is a set equipped with an associative binary operation and an identity element. For example, the nonnegative integers with addition form a monoid, the identity element being 0. Monoids are semigroups with identity. Such algebraic structures occur in several branches of mathematics. The functions from a set into itself form a monoid with respect to function composition. More generally, in category theory, the morphisms of an object to itself form a monoid, and, conversely, a monoid may be viewed as a category with a single object. In computer science and computer programming, the set of strings built from a given set of characters is a free monoid. Transition monoids and syntactic monoids are used in describing finite-state machines. Trace monoids and history monoids provide a foundation for process calculi and concurrent computing. In theoretical computer science, the study of monoids is fundamental for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Identity (mathematics)
In mathematics, an identity is an equality relating one mathematical expression ''A'' to another mathematical expression ''B'', such that ''A'' and ''B'' (which might contain some variables) produce the same value for all values of the variables within a certain range of validity. In other words, ''A'' = ''B'' is an identity if ''A'' and ''B'' define the same functions, and an identity is an equality between functions that are differently defined. For example, (a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2 and \cos^2\theta + \sin^2\theta =1 are identities. Identities are sometimes indicated by the triple bar symbol instead of , the equals sign. Common identities Algebraic identities Certain identities, such as a+0=a and a+(-a)=0, form the basis of algebra, while other identities, such as (a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab +b^2 and a^2 - b^2 = (a+b)(a-b), can be useful in simplifying algebraic expressions and expanding them. Trigonometric identities Geometrically, trigonometri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
