Functoriality of the Schmidt Construction

After proving, in a purely categorial way, that the inclusion functor InAlg(Σ) from Alg(Σ), the category of many-sorted Σ-algebras, to PAlg(Σ), the category of many-sorted partial Σ-algebras, has a left adjoint FΣ, the (absolutely) free completion functor, we recall, in connection with the functor FΣ, the generalized recursion theorem of Schmidt, which we will also call the Schmidt construction. Next we define a category Cmpl(Σ), of Σ-completions, and prove that FΣ, labeled with its domain category and the unit of the adjunction of which it is a part, is a weakly initial object in it. Following this we associate to an ordered pair (α,f), where α=(K,γ,α) is a morphism of Σ-completions from F=(C,F,η) to G=(D,G,ρ) and f a homomorphism in D from the partial Σ-algebra A to the partial Σ-algebra B, a homomorphism ΥαG,0(f):Schα(f)B. We then prove that there exists an endofunctor, ΥαG,0, of Mortw(D), the twisted morphism category of D, thus showing the naturalness of the previous construction. Afterwards we prove that, for every Σ-completion G=(D,G,ρ), there exists a functor ΥG from the comma category (Cmpl(Σ)↓G) to End(Mortw(D)), the category of endofunctors of Mortw(D), such that ΥG,0, the object mapping of ΥG, sends a morphism of Σ-completion in Cmpl(Σ) with codomain G, to the endofunctor ΥαG,0.

Recollements, comma categories and morphic enhancements

For each recollement of triangulated categories, there is an epivalence between the middle category and the comma category associated with a triangle functor from the category on the right to the category on the left. For a morphic enhancement of a triangulated category $\mathcal {T}$ , there are three explicit ideals of the enhancing category, whose corresponding factor categories are all equivalent to the module category over $\mathcal {T}$ . Examples related to inflation categories and weighted projective lines are discussed.

Relative Full Completeness for Bicategorical Cartesian Closed Structure

The glueing construction, defined as a certain comma category, is an important tool for reasoning about type theories, logics, and programming languages. Here we extend the construction to accommodate ‘2-dimensional theories’ of types, terms between types, and rewrites between terms. Taking bicategories as the semantic framework for such systems, we define the glueing bicategory and establish a bicategorical version of the well-known construction of cartesian closed structure on a glueing category. As an application, we show that free finite-product bicategories are fully complete relative to free cartesian closed bicategories, thereby establishing that the higher-order equational theory of rewriting in the simply-typed lambda calculus is a conservative extension of the algebraic equational theory of rewriting in the fragment with finite products only.

Finitary -adhesive categories

Finitary$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories are$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories with finite objects only, where$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories are a slight generalisation of weak adhesive high-level replacement (HLR) categories. We say an object is finite if it has a finite number of$\mathcal{M}$-subobjects. In this paper, we show that in finitary$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories we not only have all the well-known HLR properties of weak adhesive HLR categories, which are already valid for$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories, but also all the additional HLR requirements needed to prove classical results including the Local Church-Rosser, Parallelism, Concurrency, Embedding, Extension and Local Confluence Theorems, where the last of these is based on critical pairs. More precisely, we are able to show that finitary$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories have a unique$\mathcal{E}$-$\mathcal{M}$factorisation and initial pushouts, and the existence of an$\mathcal{M}$-initial object implies we also have finite coproducts and a unique$\mathcal{E}$′-$\mathcal{M}$pair factorisation. Moreover, we can show that the finitary restriction of each$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive category is a finitary$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive category, and finitarity is preserved under functor and comma category constructions based on$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories. This means that all the classical results are also valid for corresponding finitary$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive transformation systems including several kinds of finitary graph and Petri net transformation systems. Finally, we discuss how some of the results can be extended to non-$\mathcal{M}$-adhesive categories.

A Category of Control Systems

We construct the concrete category LiCS of left-invariant control systems (on Lie groups) and point out some very basic properties. Morphisms in this category are examined briefly. Also, covering control systems are introduced and organized into a (comma) category associated with LiCS

Category-based constraint logic

The research reported in this paper exploits the view of constraint programming as computation in a logical system, namely constraint logic. The basic ingredients of constraint logic are: constraint models for the semantics (they form a comma-category over a fixed model of ‘built-ins’); generalized polynomials in the role of basic syntactic ingredient; and a constraint satisfaction relation between semantics and syntax. Category-based constraint logic means the development of the logic is abstract categorical rather than concrete set theoretical.We show that (category-based) constraint logic is an institution, and we internalize the study of constraint logic to the abstract framework of category-based equational logic, thus opening the door for considering constraint logic programming over non-standard structures (such as CPO's, topologies, graphs, categories, etc.). By embedding category-based constraint logic into category-based equational logic, we integrate the constraint logic programming paradigm into (category-based) equational logic programming. Results include completeness of constraint logic deduction, a novel Herbrand theorem for constraint logic programming characterizing Herbrand models as initial models in constraint logic, and logical foundations for the modular combination of constraint solvers based on amalgamated sums of Herbrand models in the constraint logic institution.

A categorical manifesto

This paper tries to explain why and how category theory is useful in computing science, by giving guidelines for applying seven basic categorical concepts: category, functor, natural transformation, limit, adjoint, colimit and comma category. Some examples, intuition, and references are given for each concept, but completeness is not attempted. Some additional categorical concepts and some suggestions for further research are also mentioned. The paper concludes with some philosophical discussion.

Two addenda to the author's ‘Transfinite constructions’

Since the author's article “A unified treatment of transfinite constructions …”, in Volume 22 (198O) of this Bulletin, had an encyclopaedic goal, he now takes the opportunity to answer two further questions raised since that article was submitted. The lesser of these asks whether the only pointed endofunctors for which every action is an isomorphism are the well-pointed ones, at least when the endofunctor is cocontinuous; a counter-example provides a negative answer. The more important question concerns the reflexion from the comma-category T/A into the category of algebras for the pointed endofunctor T of A, and the algebra-reflexion sequence which converges to this reflexion; and asks for simplified descriptions in the special case where T is cocontinuous. We give closed formulas in this case, both for the reflexion and for the sequence which converges to it. The reader may wonder why we care about the approximating sequence when we have a closed formula for the reflexion; the answer is that, in certain applications, we need to separate the roles of finite colimits and filtered ones.

A unified treatment of transfinite constructions for free algebras, free monoids, colimits, associated sheaves, and so on

Many problems lead to the consideration of “algebras”, given by an object A of a category A together with “actions” TkA → A on A of one or more endofunctors of A, subjected to equational axioms. Such problems include those of free monads and free monoids, of cocompleteness in categories of monads and of monoids, of orthogonal subcategories (= generalized sheaf-categories), of categories of continuous functors, and so on; apart from problems involving the algebras for their own sake.Desirable properties of the category of algebras - existence of free ones, cocompleteness, existence of adjoints to algebraic functors - all follow if this category can be proved reflective in some well-behaved category: for which we choose a certain comma-category T/AWe show that the reflexion exists and is given as the colimit of a simple transfinite sequence, if A is cocomplete and the Tk preserve either colimits or unions of suitably-long chains of subobjects.The article draws heavily on the work of earlier authors, unifies and simplifies this, and extends it to new problems. Moreover the reflectivity in T/A is stronger than any earlier result, and will be applied in forthcoming articles, in an enriched version, to the study of categories with structure.

A Relationship between Left Exact and Representable Functors

Our aim in this paper is to demonstrate a relationship between left exact and representable functors. More precisely, in the functor category whose objects are the additive functors from the dual of an abelian category 𝔄 to the category of abelian groups and whose morphisms are the natural transformations between them, the left exact functors can be characterized as those equivalent to a direct limit of representable functors taken over a directed class. The proof will proceed in the following manner. Lambek [3] and Ulmer [7] have shown that any functor T in can be expressed as a direct limit of representable functors taken over a comma category. When T is left exact, it is easily observed that this comma category is a filtered category. When T is left exact, it is easily observed that this comma category is a filtered category.