%! TEX root = CT.tex % vim: tw=50 % 11/10/2024 09AM \newpage \section{Definitions and Examples} \begin{fcdefn}[Category] % Definition 1.1 \glssymboldefn{category}% \glsnoundefn{cat}{category}{categories} A \emph{category} $\mathcal{C}$ consists of: \begin{cenum}[(a)] \item a collection $\obinternal \mathcal{C}$ of \emph{objects} $A, B, C, \ldots$. \item a collection $\morinternal \mathcal{C}$ of \emph{morphisms} $f, g, h, \ldots$. \item two operations $\dominternal$, $\codinternal$ from $\morinternal \mathcal{C}$ to $\obinternal \mathcal{C}$: we write $f : A \to B$ for ``$f$ is a morphism and $\dominternal f = A$ and $\codinternal f = B$''. \item an operation from $\obinternal \mathcal{C}$ to $\morinternal \mathcal{C}$ sending $A$ to $\identity{A} : A \to A$. \item a partial binary operation $(f, g) \mapsto fg$ on $\morinternal \mathcal{C}$, such that $fg$ is defined if and only if $\dominternal f = \codinternal g$, and in this case we have $\dominternal fg = \dominternal g$ and $\codinternal fg = \codinternal f$. \end{cenum} These are subject to the axioms: \begin{cenum}[(a)] \setcounter{enumi}{5} \item $f \identity{A} = f$ and $\identity{A} g = g$ when the composites are defined. \item $f(gh) = (fg)h$ whenever $fg$ and $gh$ are defined. \end{cenum} \end{fcdefn} \begin{remark} % Remark 1.2 \phantom{} \begin{enumerate}[(a)] \item \glsadjdefn{small}{small}{\gls{cat}}% $\ob C$ and $\mor C$ needn't be sets. If they are, we call $\mathcal{C}$ a \emph{small} category. \item We could formalise the definition without mentioning objects, but we don't. \item $fg$ means ``first $g$, then $f$''. \end{enumerate} \end{remark} \begin{example} \label{eg:1.3} % Example 1.3 \phantom{} \glssymboldefn{catexamples}% \begin{enumerate}[(a)] \item $\mathbf{Set} = $ \gls{cat} of all sets and the functions between them. (Formally, a morphism of $\mathbf{Set}$ is a pair $(f, B)$ where $f$ is a set-theoretic function, and $B$ is its codomain.) \item We have \glspl{cat}: \begin{itemize} \item $\mathbf{Group}$ of groups and group homomorphisms \item $\mathbf{Rng}$ of rings and homomorphisms \item $\mathbf{Vect}_k$ of vector spaces over a field $k$ \item and so on \end{itemize} \item We have \glspl{cat} \begin{itemize} \item $\mathbf{Top}$ of topological spaces and continuous maps \item $\mathbf{Met}$ of metric spaces and non-expansive maps (i.e. $f$ such that $d(f(x), f(y)) \le d(x, y)$) \item $\mathbf{Mfd}$ of smooth manifolds and $C^\infty$ maps \end{itemize} Also $\mathbf{TopGp}$ for topological groups and continuous homomorphisms, etc... \item We have a \gls{cat} $\mathbf{Htpy}$ with the same objects as $\Top$, but morphisms $X \to Y$ are homotopy classes of continuous maps. In general, given $\mathcal{C}$ and an equivalence relation $\equiv$ on $\mor \mathcal{C}$ such that \[ f \equiv g \implies \dom f = \dom g \text{ and } \cod f = \cod g \] and \[ f \equiv g \implies fg \equiv gh \text{ and } kf \equiv kg \text{ when the composites are defined} \] we can form a \emph{quotient} category $\mathcal{C} / \equiv$. \item The \gls{cat} $\mathbf{Rel}$ has the same objects as $\Set$, but morphisms $A \to B$ are relations $R \subseteq A \times B$, with composition defined by \[ R \circ S = \{(a, c) \st (\exists b) (a, b) \in S \wedge (b, c) \in R\} .\] We can also define the \gls{cat} $\mathbf{Part}$ of sets with partial functions. \item % \begin{fcdefn*}[Opposite category] \glssymboldefn{opcat}% For any \gls{cat} $\mathcal{C}$, the \emph{opposite category} $\mathcal{C}^{\mathrm{op}}$ has the same objects and morphisms as $\mathcal{C}$ but $\dom$ and $\cod$ are interchanged and composition is reversed. This yields a \emph{duality principle}: if $P$ is a true statement about \glspl{cat}, so is $P^*$ obtained by reversing arrows in $P$. % \end{fcdefn*} \item A (small) category with one object $*$ is a \emph{monoid} (a semigroup with an identity). In particular, a group is a $1-$object small \gls{cat} whose morphisms are all isomorphisms. \item A \emph{groupoid} is a \gls{cat} whose morphisms are all isomorphisms. For example, the \emph{fundamental groupoid} $\pi_1(X)$ of a topological space $X$ has points of $X$ as objects, and morphisms $x \to y$ are homotopy classes of paths from $x$ to $y$ (c.f. the fundamental group $\pi_1(X, x)$). \item A \emph{discrete} category is one whose only morphisms are identities. If $\mathcal{C}$ is such that for any pair of objects $(A, B)$ there is at most one morphism $A \to B$ then $\mor \mathcal{C}$ becomes a reflexive, transitive relation on $\ob \mathcal{C}$. We call such a $\mathcal{C}$ a \emph{preorder}. In particular, a \emph{poset} is a small preorder whose only isomorphisms are identities. \item Given a field $k$, the \gls{cat} $\mathbf{Mat}_k$ has natural numbers as objects, and morphisms $n \to p$ are $p \times n$ matrices, with entries from $k$, and composition is matrix multiplication. \end{enumerate} \end{example}