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This material is limited to defining categories, giving a few illustrations and then showing the power of the concept by displaying a concept which applies in more than one category but in different guises which are the same from a category point of view. Thus if an overall category theorem has been proven then for it to apply in separate fields it is only necessary to demonstrate that the separate fields are indeed categories.
A group consists of a set of elements S and a binary function f(x,y) defined for all x and y in S. The function f
must have certain properties. For all x and y in S, f(x,y) is in S. There exists an element e in S (called the identity element)
such that for all x in S, f(x,e) is equal to x. Also for all x in S there exists a y in S such that f(x,y)=e. The element y is
said to be the inverse of x. And finally, for all x, y and z in S f(x,f(y,z)) is equal to f(f(x,y),z).
A homomorphism between group G and group H is a function F defined on G with values in H such that if g and h are the binary
functions for G and H, respectively
Note that a particular group is not a category; the set of all groups is not a category. The category is the combination of the
set of all groups and the set of homomorphisms between them.
A set consists of elements. A one-to-one function f between set A and set B is such that for all x in A there is defined one and only one element f(x) in B and for any y in B there is one and only one x in A such that f(x)=y.
A vector space consists of a set of elements (vectors) V, a field of scalars K and two operations (functions), vector addition and
scalar multiplication. Addition is such that for all v and u in V, v+u belongs to V. Scalar multiplication is such that for all
k in K and v in V, kv is in V.
A linear mapping L between vector space V and vector space W is such that for all v and u in V
where +* is the addition in the vector space W.
A topological space consists of a set of elements S and a collection T of subsets of S, including the whole set and the empty set. The subsets in T are called the open sets
of the topology. The collection of subsets is closed under set union and set intersection; i.e., if A and B belong to T then the union
A∪B and the intersection A∩B also belong to T.
A mapping between topological space T and topological space U is continuous if the inverse images of open sets of U are open sets of T.
A deductive system consists of well formed formulas and the methods of deduction between them.
A partially ordered set is a set S and a binary function on S that maps to the set {true, false}. That is to say, for all x and y in
f(x, y) is either true or false. This binary function is called a relation and is usually expressed as xRy, x is less than or
equal to y. The relation has the properties of reflexivity (for all x in S xRx is true), transitivity (for all x, y and z in S if
xRy and yRz are true then xRz is true), and antisymmetry (if xRy and yRx then x=y).
A monotone function is a mapping f between partially ordered sets A and B such that if xRy in A then f(x)R'f(y) in B, where R and
R' are the order relations in A and B, respectively.
The crucial ingredient in all of these is the set of mappings between the objects. In a sense category theory is the mathematics
of mappings between objects.
A category consists of
The composition of f and g is displayed as
For the category of groups/homomorphisms the objects are the groups. The arrows are the homomorphisms. For each group there is the identity mapping
that maps it into itself.
For the category of sets/one-to-one functions the objects are sets and the arrows are the one-to-one functions from one set to another.
For the category of topological spaces and continuous mappings the objects are the topological spaces and the arrows are
the continuous mappings.
For the category of vector spaces and linear mappings the objects are the vector spaces and arrows are the linear mappings,
which for finite dimensional vector spaces can be identified with matrices.
For deductive system the formulas are the objects and the arrows are the deductive proofs between them.
For partially ordered sets and monotone functions the objects are the sets and their order relations. The arrows are the
monotone functions.
Category Theory was founded by an article which Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane published in 1945 in the Transactions
of the American Mathematical Society Vol. 58, pp. 231-294. The title of the article was "General theory of natural equivalence."
During the 1950's Alexander Grothendieck utilized Category Theory in the field of algebraic geometry. In the 1960's Francis William Lawvere
applied it to logic. Subsequently it has been applied fruitfully in computer science, linguistics and philosophy, among other fields.
(To be continued.)
Steve Awodey, Category Theory, Claredon Press, Oxford, 2006.
Saunders Mac Lane, Categories for the Working Mathematician, Springer, Berlin, 1998.
D.E. Rydeheard and R.M. Burstall, Computational Category Theory, Prentice Hall, New York, 1988.
Ion Bucur amd Aristide Deleanu, Introduction to the Theory of Categories and Functors, John Wiley & Sons, London, 1968.
V. Sankrithi Krishnan, An Introduction to Category Theory, North Holland, New York, 1981.
F(g(x,y)) = h(F(x),F(y))
Sets and One-to-one Functions between Sets
Vector Spaces and Linear Mappings between Vector Spaces
L(v+u) = L(v) +* L(u)
Topological Spaces and Continuous Mappings between them
Deductive Systems
Partially ordered set and monotone functions between them
Definition of a Category
g°f:A→C means
f:A→B and g:B→C
or, equivalently
for all a in A
g°f(a) = g(f(a)
h°(g°f)=(h°g)°f
means
h(g(b)) where b=f(a)
is the same as
h(c) where c=g(f(a).
History of Category Theory
Sources:
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