We present a setting for the study of torsion theories in general categories. The idea is to associate, with any pair ($\mathcal T$, $\mathcal F$) of full replete subcategories in a category $\mathcal C$, the corresponding full subcategory $\mathcal Z = \mathcal T \cap \mathcal F$ of \emph{trivial objects} in $\mathcal C$. The morphisms which factor through $\mathcal Z$ are called $\mathcal Z$-trivial, and these form an ideal of morphisms, with respect to which one can define $\mathcal Z$-prekernels, $\mathcal Z$-precokernels, and short $\mathcal Z$-preexact sequences. This naturally leads to the notion of pretorsion theory, which is the object of study of this article, and includes the classical one in the abelian context when $\mathcal Z$ is reduced to the $0$-object of $\mathcal C$. We study the basic properties of pretorsion theories, and examine some new examples in the category of all endomappings of finite sets and in the category of preordered sets.
We propose a construction of a stable category for any pretorsion theory in a lextensive category. We prove the universal property of the stable category, that extends previous results obtained for the stable category of internal preorders in a pretopos. Some examples are provided in the categories of topological spaces and of (small) categories.
We show that in the category of preordered sets, there is a natural notion of pretorsion theory, in which the partially ordered sets are the torsion-free objects and the sets endowed with an equivalence relation are the torsion objects. Correspondingly, it is possible to construct a stable category factoring out the objects that are both torsion and torsion-free.
In this article we explore a non-abelian torsion theory in the category of preordered groups: the objects of its torsion-free subcategory are the partially ordered groups, whereas the objects of the torsion subcategory are groups (with the total order). The reflector from the category of preordered groups to this torsion-free subcategory has stable units, and we prove that it induces a monotone-light factorization system. We describe the coverings relative to the Galois structure naturally associated with this reflector, and explain how these coverings can be classified as internal actions of …
For a commutative, unital and integral quantale V, we generalize to V-groups the results developed by Gran and Michel for preordered groups. We first of all show that, in the category V-Grp of V-groups, there exists a torsion theory whose torsion and torsion-free subcategories are given by those of indiscrete and separated V-groups, respectively. It turns out that this torsion theory induces a monotone-light factorization system that we characterize, and it is then possible to describe the coverings in V-Grp. We next classify these coverings as internal actions of a Galois groupoid. Finally, w…
We prove general results about completeness of cotorsion theories and existence of covers and envelopes in locally presentable abelian categories, extending the well-established theory for module categories and Grothendieck categories. These results are then applied to the categories of contramodules over topological rings, which provide examples and counterexamples.
Models of dependent type theories are contextual categories with some additional structure. We prove that if a theory $T$ has enough structure, then the category $T\text{-}\mathbf{Mod}$ of its models carries the structure of a model category. We also show that if $T$ has $Σ$ types, then weak equivalences can be characterized in terms of homotopy categories of models.
Abelian track categories can be classified via the third Baues-Wirsching cohomology of small categories. This approach is used in this paper to compare and classify different generalisations of the obstruction theory of non-abelian group extensions, due to Cegarra, Garzón and Grandjean, Cegarra, Garzón and Ortega, and Chen, Du and Wang.
This note informally describes a way to build certain cubical n-categories by iterating a process of taking models of certain finite limits theories. We base this discussion on a construction of "double bicategories" as bicategories internal to Bicat, and see how to extend this to n-tuple bicategories (and similarly for tricategories etc.) We briefly consider how to reproduce "simpler" definitions of weak cubical n-category from these.
We work with $FI$-modules over a small preadditive category $\mathcal R$, viewed as a ring with several objects. Our aim is to study torsion theories for $FI$-modules. We are especially interested in torsion theories on finitely generated $FI$-modules and the category of what we call "shift finitely generated" $FI$-modules. We also apply these methods to study inductive descriptions of $FI$-modules over $\mathcal R$.
We lift Charles Rezk's complete Segal space model structure on the category of simplicial spaces to a Quillen equivalent one on the category of relative categories.
Let R be a ring and let T be a hereditary torsion class of R-modules. The inclusion of the localizing subcategory generated by T into the derived category of R has a right adjoint, which is a colocalization. Benson has recently shown how to compute this right sdjoint when R is the group ring of a finite group over a prime field and T is the hereditary torsion class generated by a simple module. We generalize Benson's construction to the case where T is any hereditary torsion class on R. This yields an explicit formula for the colocalization with respect to T, using an injective cogenerator for…
Seely's paper "Locally cartesian closed categories and type theory" contains a well-known result in categorical type theory: that the category of locally cartesian closed categories is equivalent to the category of Martin-Löf type theories with Pi-types, Sigma-types and extensional identity types. However, Seely's proof relies on the problematic assumption that substitution in types can be interpreted by pullbacks. Here we prove a corrected version of Seely's theorem: that the Bénabou-Hofmann interpretation of Martin-Löf type theory in locally cartesian closed categories yields a biequivalence…
We introduce, for every positive integer n, the notion of an n-relative category and show that the category of the small n-relative categories is a model for the homotopy theory of n-fold homotopy theories, i.e. homotopy theories of ... of homotopy theories.
Generalizing a definition of homotopy fiber products of model categories, we give a definition of the homotopy limit of a diagram of left Quillen functors between model categories. As has been previously shown for homotopy fiber products, we prove that such a homotopy limit does in fact correspond to the usual homotopy limit, when we work in a more general model for homotopy theories in which they can be regarded as objects of a model category.
We introduce cohomology and homology theories for small categories with general coefficient systems from simplex categories first studied by Thomason. These theories generalize at once Baues-Wirsching cohomology and homology and other more classical theories. We analyze naturality and functoriality properties of these theories and construct associated spectral sequences for functors between small categories.
Constructions of spectra from symmetric monoidal categories are typically functorial with respect to strict structure-preserving maps, but often the maps of interest are merely lax monoidal. We describe conditions under which one can transport the weak equivalences from one category to another with the same objects and a broader class of maps. Under mild hypotheses this process produces an equivalence of homotopy theories. We describe examples including algebras over an operad, such as symmetric monoidal categories and $n$-fold monoidal categories; and diagram categories, such as $Γ$-categorie…
We introduce a new approach to the study of operational theories of physics using category theory. We define a generalisation of the (causal) operational-probabilistic theories of Chiribella et al. and establish their correspondence with our new notion of an operational category. Our work is based on effectus theory, a recently developed area of categorical logic, to which we give an operational interpretation, demonstrating its relevance to the modelling of general probabilistic theories.
Given an algebraic theory which can be described by a (possibly symmetric) operad $P$, we propose a definition of the \emph{weakening} (or \emph{categorification}) of the theory, in which equations that hold strictly for $P$-algebras hold only up to coherent isomorphism. This generalizes the theories of monoidal categories and symmetric monoidal categories, and several related notions defined in the literature. Using this definition, we generalize the result that every monoidal category is monoidally equivalent to a strict monoidal category, and show that the "strictification" functor has an i…
Motivated by the challenge of defining twisted quantum field theories in the context of higher categories, we develop a general framework for lax and oplax transformations and their higher analogs between strong $(\infty, n)$-functors. We construct a double $(\infty,n)$-category built out of the target $(\infty, n)$-category governing the desired diagrammatics. We define (op)lax transformations as functors into parts thereof, and an (op)lax twisted field theory to be a symmetric monoidal (op)lax natural transformation between field theories. We verify that lax trivially-twisted relative field …
Universal algebra uniformly captures various algebraic structures, by expressing them as equational theories or abstract clones. The ubiquity of algebraic structures in mathematics and related fields has given rise to several variants of universal algebra, such as symmetric operads, non-symmetric operads, generalised operads, and monads. These variants of universal algebra are called notions of algebraic theory. In the first part of this thesis, we develop a unified framework for notions of algebraic theory which includes all of the above examples. Our key observation is that each notion of al…
We show that each of the three $K$-theory multifunctors from small permutative categories to $\mathcal{G}_*$-categories, $\mathcal{G}_*$-simplicial sets, and connective spectra, is an equivalence of homotopy theories. For each of these $K$-theory multifunctors, we describe an explicit homotopy inverse functor. As a separate application of our general results about pointed diagram categories, we observe that the right-induced homotopy theory of Bohmann-Osorno $\mathcal{E}_*$-categories is equivalent to the homotopy theory of pointed simplicial categories.
We prove that the homotopy theory of cofibration categories is equivalent to the homotopy theory of cocomplete quasicategories. This is achieved by presenting both homotopy theories as fibration categories and constructing an explicit equivalence between them.
We give a new syntax independent definition of the notion of a generalized algebraic theory as an initial object in a category of categories with families (cwfs) with extra structure. To this end we define inductively how to build a valid signature $Σ$ for a generalized algebraic theory and the associated category of cwfs with a $Σ$-structure and cwf-morphisms that preserve this structure on the nose. Our definition refers to uniform families of contexts, types, and terms, a purely semantic notion. Furthermore, we show how to syntactically construct initial cwfs with $Σ$-structures. This resul…
Categories are coreflectively embedded in multicategories via the "discrete cocone" construction, the right adjoint being given by the monoid construction. Furthermore, the adjunction lifts to the "cartesian level": preadditive categories are coreflectively embedded (as theories for many-sorted modules) in cartesian multicategories (general algebraic theories). In particular, one gets a direct link between two ways of considering modules over a rig, namely as additive functors valued in commutative monoids or as models of the theory generated by the rig itself.
We study ideal cotorsion pairs associated to weak proper classes of triangles in extension closed subcategories of triangulated categories. This approach allows us to extend the recent ideal approximations theory developed by Fu, Herzog et al. for exact categories in the above mentioned context, and to provide simplified proofs for the ideal versions of some standard results as Salce's Lemma, Wakamatsu's Lemma and Christensen's Ghost Lemma. In the last part of the paper we apply the theory in order to study connections between projective classes (in particular localization or smashing subcateg…
We consider the equivalence of Lawvere theories and finitary monads on Set from the perspective of Endf(Set)-enriched category theory, where Endf(Set) is the category of finitary endofunctors of Set. We identify finitary monads with one-object Endf(Set)-categories, and ordinary categories admitting finite powers (i.e., n-fold products of each object with itself) with Endf(Set)-categories admitting a certain class Phi of absolute colimits; we then show that, from this perspective, the passage from a finitary monad to the associated Lawvere theory is given by completion under Phi-colimits. We al…
We introduce a framework for universal algebra in categories of relational structures given by finitary relational signatures and finitary or infinitary Horn theories, with the arity $λ$ of a Horn theory understood as a strict upper bound on the number of premisses in its axioms; key examples include partial orders ($λ=ω$) or metric spaces ($λ=ω_1$). We establish a bijective correspondence between $λ$-accessible enriched monads on the given category of relational structures and a notion of $λ$-ary algebraic theories (i.e. with operations of arity $<λ$), with the syntax of algebraic theories in…
We adapt the classical framework of algebraic theories to work in the setting of (infinity,1)-categories developed by Joyal and Lurie. This gives a suitable approach for describing highly structured objects from homotopy theory. A central example, treated at length, is the theory of E_infinity spaces: this has a tidy combinatorial description in terms of span diagrams of finite sets. We introduce a theory of distributive laws, allowing us to describe objects with two distributing E_infinity stuctures. From this we produce a theory of E_infinity ring spaces. We also study grouplike objects, and…
Dijkgraaf-Witten theories are extended three-dimensional topological field theories of Turaev-Viro type. They can be constructed geometrically from categories of bundles via linearization. Boundaries and surface defects or interfaces in quantum field theories are of interest in various applications and provide structural insight. We perform a geometric study of boundary conditions and surface defects in Dijkgraaf-Witten theories. A crucial tool is the linearization of categories of relative bundles. We present the categories of generalized Wilson lines produced by such a linearization procedur…
We characterize the equational theories and Lawvere theories that correspond to the categories of analytic and polynomial monads on Set, and hence also the categories of the symmetric and rigid operads in Set. We show that the category of analytic monads is equivalent to the category of regular-linear theories. The category of polynomial monads is equivalent to the category of rigid theories, i.e. regular-linear theories satisfying an additional global condition. This solves a problem A. Carboni and P. T. Johnstone. The Lawvere theories corresponding to these monads are identified via some fac…
We give a framework for comparing on the one hand theories of n-categories that are weakly enriched operadically, and on the other hand n-categories given as algebras for a contractible globular operad. Examples of the former are the definition by Trimble and variants (Cheng-Gurski) and examples of the latter are the definition by Batanin and variants (Leinster). We will show how to take a theory of n-categories of the former kind and produce a globular operad whose algebras are the n-categories we started with. We first provide a generalisation of Trimble's original theory that allows for the…
In this paper, we define a generalization of indexed categories and contextual categories which we call contextually indexed (contextual) categories. While contextual categories are models of ordinary type theories, contextually indexed (contextual) categories are models of indexed type theories. We also define type-theoretic semi-fibration categories which generalize type-theoretic fibration categories. Every model category in which cofibrations are stable under pullbacks is a type-theoretic semi-fibration category. We show that type-theoretic semi-fibration category gives rise to a contextua…
The first part of this dissertation defines "dependently typed algebraic theories", which are a strict subclass of the generalised algebraic theories (GATs) of Cartmell. We characterise dependently typed algebraic theories as finitary monads on certain presheaf categories, generalising a well-known result due to Lawvere, Bénabou and Linton for ordinary multisorted algebraic theories. We use this to recognise dependently typed algebraic theories for a number of classes of algebraic structures, such as small categories, n-categories, strict and weak omega-categories, planar coloured operads and …
We axiomatise the theory of $(\infty,n)$-categories. We prove that the space of theories of $(\infty,n)$-categories is a $B(\mathbb{Z}/2)^n$. We prove that Rezk's complete Segal $Θ_n$-spaces, Simpson and Tamsamani's Segal $n$-categories, the first author's $n$-fold complete Segal spaces, Kan and the first author's $n$-relative categories, and complete Segal space objects in any model of $(\infty,n-1)$-categories all satisfy our axioms. Consequently, these theories are all equivalent in a manner that is unique up to the action of $(\mathbb{Z}/2)^n$.
Given any model category, or more generally any category with weak equivalences, its simplicial localization is a simplicial category which can rightfully be called the "homotopy theory" of the model category. There is a model category structure on the category of simplicial categories, so taking its simplicial localization yields a "homotopy theory of homotopy theories." In this paper we show that there are two different categories of diagrams of simplicial sets, each equipped with an appropriate definition of weak equivalence, such that the resulting homotopy theories are each equivalent to …
