Elements of ∞-Category Theory

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Riehl ◽  
Dominic Verity
Keyword(s):  
First Principles ◽  
Category Theory ◽  
Higher Dimensional ◽  
Background Material ◽  
Model Independent ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Formal Category

The language of ∞-categories provides an insightful new way of expressing many results in higher-dimensional mathematics but can be challenging for the uninitiated. To explain what exactly an ∞-category is requires various technical models, raising the question of how they might be compared. To overcome this, a model-independent approach is desired, so that theorems proven with any model would apply to them all. This text develops the theory of ∞-categories from first principles in a model-independent fashion using the axiomatic framework of an ∞-cosmos, the universe in which ∞-categories live as objects. An ∞-cosmos is a fertile setting for the formal category theory of ∞-categories, and in this way the foundational proofs in ∞-category theory closely resemble the classical foundations of ordinary category theory. Equipped with exercises and appendices with background material, this first introduction is meant for students and researchers who have a strong foundation in classical 1-category theory.

Category theory, introduction to

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin McLarty
Keyword(s):  
Number Theory ◽  
Set Theory ◽  
Category Theory ◽  
Standard Set ◽  
Universe Of Sets ◽  
The Universe

A ‘category’, in the mathematical sense, is a universe of structures and transformations. Category theory treats such a universe simply in terms of the network of transformations. For example, categorical set theory deals with the universe of sets and functions without saying what is in any set, or what any function ‘does to’ anything in its domain; it only talks about the patterns of functions that occur between sets. This stress on patterns of functions originally served to clarify certain working techniques in topology. Grothendieck extended those techniques to number theory, in part by defining a kind of category which could itself represent a space. He called such a category a ‘topos’. It turned out that a topos could also be seen as a category rich enough to do all the usual constructions of set-theoretic mathematics, but that may get very different results from standard set theory.

scholarly journals Model-independent cosmic acceleration and redshift-dependent intrinsic luminosity in type-Ia supernovae

2019 ◽  
Vol 625 ◽  
pp. A15 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Tutusaus ◽  
B. Lamine ◽  
A. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Spline Interpolation ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Cosmic Acceleration ◽  
Expansion Rate ◽  
Type Ia Supernovae ◽  
Type Ia ◽  
Model Independent ◽  
Ia Supernovae ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Intrinsic Luminosity

Context. The cosmological concordance model (ΛCDM) is the current standard model in cosmology thanks to its ability to reproduce the observations. The first observational evidence for this model appeared roughly 20 years ago from the type-Ia supernovae (SNIa) Hubble diagram from two different groups. However, there has been some debate in the literature concerning the statistical treatment of SNIa, and their stature as proof of cosmic acceleration. Aims. In this paper we relax the standard assumption that SNIa intrinsic luminosity is independent of redshift, and examine whether it may have an impact on our cosmological knowledge and more precisely on the accelerated nature of the expansion of the universe. Methods. To maximise the scope of this study, we do not specify a given cosmological model, but we reconstruct the expansion rate of the universe through a cubic spline interpolation fitting the observations of the different cosmological probes: SNIa, baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and the high-redshift information from the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Results. We show that when SNIa intrinsic luminosity is not allowed to vary as a function of redshift, cosmic acceleration is definitely proven in a model-independent approach. However, allowing for redshift dependence, a nonaccelerated reconstruction of the expansion rate is able to fit, at the same level of ΛCDM, the combination of SNIa and BAO data, both treating the BAO standard ruler rd as a free parameter (not entering on the physics governing the BAO), and adding the recently published prior from CMB observations. We further extend the analysis by including the CMB data. In this case we also consider a third way to combine the different probes by explicitly computing rd from the physics of the early universe, and we show that a nonaccelerated reconstruction is able to nicely fit this combination of low- and high-redshift data. We also check that this reconstruction is compatible with the latest measurements of the growth rate of matter perturbations. We finally show that the value of the Hubble constant (H0) predicted by this reconstruction is in tension with model-independent measurements. Conclusions. We present a model-independent reconstruction of a nonaccelerated expansion rate of the universe that is able to fit all the main background cosmological probes nicely. However, the predicted value of H0 is in tension with recent direct measurements. Our analysis points out that a final reliable and consensual value for H0 is critical to definitively prove cosmic acceleration in a model-independent way.

scholarly journals Description of the Fission Process: Nuclear Models for Fission Dynamics

2020 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 03005
Author(s):  
M. Verriere ◽  
M.R. Mumpower ◽  
T. Kawano ◽  
N. Schunck
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Heavy Nucleus ◽  
First Principles ◽  
Energy Generation ◽  
Nuclear Fission ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Fission Process ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Nuclear Models ◽  
The Universe

Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two or more fragments, a process that releases a substantial amount of energy. It is ubiquitous in modern applications, critical for national security, energy generation and reactor safeguards. Fission also plays an important role in understanding the astrophysical formation of elements in the universe. Eighty years after the discovery of the fission process, its theoretical understanding from first principles remains a great challenge. In this paper, we present promising new approaches to make more accurate predictions of fission observables.

scholarly journals Cosmological constant from the emergent gravity perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (06) ◽  
pp. 1430011 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Padmanabhan ◽  
Hamsa Padmanabhan
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Integration Constant ◽  
Dimensionless Number ◽  
Late Time ◽  
Field Equations ◽  
Cosmological Constant Problem ◽  
Emergent Gravity ◽  
Background Material ◽  
The Universe

Observations indicate that our universe is characterized by a late-time accelerating phase, possibly driven by a cosmological constant Λ, with the dimensionless parameter [Formula: see text], where LP= (Għ/c3)1/2is the Planck length. In this review, we describe how the emergent gravity paradigm provides a new insight and a possible solution to the cosmological constant problem. After reviewing the necessary background material, we identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for solving the cosmological constant problem. We show that these conditions are naturally satisfied in the emergent gravity paradigm in which (i) the field equations of gravity are invariant under the addition of a constant to the matter Lagrangian and (ii) the cosmological constant appears as an integration constant in the solution. The numerical value of this integration constant can be related to another dimensionless number (called CosMIn) that counts the number of modes inside a Hubble volume that cross the Hubble radius during the radiation and the matter-dominated epochs of the universe. The emergent gravity paradigm suggests that CosMIn has the numerical value 4π, which, in turn, leads to the correct, observed value of the cosmological constant. Further, the emergent gravity paradigm provides an alternative perspective on cosmology and interprets the expansion of the universe itself as a quest towards holographic equipartition. We discuss the implications of this novel and alternate description of cosmology.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document