Higher category theoryIn mathematics, higher category theory is the part of at a higher order, which means that some equalities are replaced by explicit arrows in order to be able to explicitly study the structure behind those equalities. Higher category theory is often applied in algebraic topology (especially in homotopy theory), where one studies algebraic invariants of spaces, such as their fundamental . An ordinary has and morphisms, which are called 1-morphisms in the context of higher category theory.
Model categoryIn mathematics, particularly in homotopy theory, a model category is a with distinguished classes of morphisms ('arrows') called 'weak equivalences', 'fibrations' and 'cofibrations' satisfying certain axioms relating them. These abstract from the category of topological spaces or of chain complexes ( theory). The concept was introduced by . In recent decades, the language of model categories has been used in some parts of algebraic K-theory and algebraic geometry, where homotopy-theoretic approaches led to deep results.
A¹ homotopy theoryIn algebraic geometry and algebraic topology, branches of mathematics, A1 homotopy theory or motivic homotopy theory is a way to apply the techniques of algebraic topology, specifically homotopy, to algebraic varieties and, more generally, to schemes. The theory is due to Fabien Morel and Vladimir Voevodsky. The underlying idea is that it should be possible to develop a purely algebraic approach to homotopy theory by replacing the unit interval [0, 1], which is not an algebraic variety, with the affine line A1, which is.
HomotopyIn topology, a branch of mathematics, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from ὁμός "same, similar" and τόπος "place") if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a homotopy (həˈmɒtəpiː, ; ˈhoʊmoʊˌtoʊpiː, ) between the two functions. A notable use of homotopy is the definition of homotopy groups and cohomotopy groups, important invariants in algebraic topology. In practice, there are technical difficulties in using homotopies with certain spaces.
Homotopy groupIn mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, denoted which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or holes, of a topological space. To define the n-th homotopy group, the base-point-preserving maps from an n-dimensional sphere (with base point) into a given space (with base point) are collected into equivalence classes, called homotopy classes.
Quasi-categoryIn mathematics, more specifically , a quasi-category (also called quasicategory, weak Kan complex, inner Kan complex, infinity category, ∞-category, Boardman complex, quategory) is a generalization of the notion of a . The study of such generalizations is known as . Quasi-categories were introduced by . André Joyal has much advanced the study of quasi-categories showing that most of the usual basic and some of the advanced notions and theorems have their analogues for quasi-categories.
Strict 2-categoryIn , a strict 2-category is a with "morphisms between morphisms", that is, where each hom-set itself carries the structure of a category. It can be formally defined as a category over Cat (the , with the structure given by ). The concept of 2-category was first introduced by Charles Ehresmann in his work on enriched categories in 1965. The more general concept of (or weak 2-category), where composition of morphisms is associative only up to a 2-isomorphism, was introduced in 1968 by Jean Bénabou.
Homotopy theoryIn mathematics, homotopy theory is a systematic study of situations in which maps can come with homotopies between them. It originated as a topic in algebraic topology but nowadays is studied as an independent discipline. Besides algebraic topology, the theory has also been used in other areas of mathematics such as algebraic geometry (e.g., A1 homotopy theory) and (specifically the study of ). In homotopy theory and algebraic topology, the word "space" denotes a topological space.
Timeline of category theory and related mathematicsThis is a timeline of category theory and related mathematics. Its scope ("related mathematics") is taken as: of abstract algebraic structures including representation theory and universal algebra; Homological algebra; Homotopical algebra; Topology using categories, including algebraic topology, categorical topology, quantum topology, low-dimensional topology; Categorical logic and set theory in the categorical context such as algebraic set theory; Foundations of mathematics building on categories, for instance topos theory; Abstract geometry, including algebraic geometry, categorical noncommutative geometry, etc.
Homotopy colimit and limitIn mathematics, especially in algebraic topology, the homotopy limit and colimitpg 52 are variants of the notions of and colimit extended to the homotopy category . The main idea is this: if we have a diagramconsidered as an object in the , (where the homotopy equivalence of diagrams is considered pointwise), then the homotopy limit and colimits then correspond to the and coconewhich are objects in the homotopy category , where is the category with one object and one morphism.
Homotopy groups of spheresIn the mathematical field of algebraic topology, the homotopy groups of spheres describe how spheres of various dimensions can wrap around each other. They are examples of topological invariants, which reflect, in algebraic terms, the structure of spheres viewed as topological spaces, forgetting about their precise geometry. Unlike homology groups, which are also topological invariants, the homotopy groups are surprisingly complex and difficult to compute.
Monad (category theory)In , a branch of mathematics, a monad (also triple, triad, standard construction and fundamental construction) is a in the of endofunctors of some fixed category. An endofunctor is a functor mapping a category to itself, and a monad is an endofunctor together with two natural transformations required to fulfill certain coherence conditions. Monads are used in the theory of pairs of adjoint functors, and they generalize closure operators on partially ordered sets to arbitrary categories.
Equivalence of categoriesIn , a branch of abstract mathematics, an equivalence of categories is a relation between two that establishes that these categories are "essentially the same". There are numerous examples of categorical equivalences from many areas of mathematics. Establishing an equivalence involves demonstrating strong similarities between the mathematical structures concerned.
∞-groupoidIn , a branch of mathematics, an ∞-groupoid is an abstract homotopical model for topological spaces. One model uses Kan complexes which are fibrant objects in the category of simplicial sets (with the standard ). It is an generalization of a groupoid, a category in which every morphism is an isomorphism. The homotopy hypothesis states that ∞-groupoids are equivalent to spaces up to homotopy. Alexander Grothendieck suggested in Pursuing Stacks that there should be an extraordinarily simple model of ∞-groupoids using globular sets, originally called hemispherical complexes.
Category of small categoriesIn mathematics, specifically in , the category of small categories, denoted by Cat, is the whose objects are all and whose morphisms are functors between categories. Cat may actually be regarded as a with natural transformations serving as 2-morphisms. The initial object of Cat is the empty category 0, which is the category of no objects and no morphisms. The terminal object is the terminal category or trivial category 1 with a single object and morphism. The category Cat is itself a , and therefore not an object of itself.
Stable homotopy theoryIn mathematics, stable homotopy theory is the part of homotopy theory (and thus algebraic topology) concerned with all structure and phenomena that remain after sufficiently many applications of the suspension functor. A founding result was the Freudenthal suspension theorem, which states that given any pointed space , the homotopy groups stabilize for sufficiently large. In particular, the homotopy groups of spheres stabilize for . For example, In the two examples above all the maps between homotopy groups are applications of the suspension functor.
Fundamental groupIn the mathematical field of algebraic topology, the fundamental group of a topological space is the group of the equivalence classes under homotopy of the loops contained in the space. It records information about the basic shape, or holes, of the topological space. The fundamental group is the first and simplest homotopy group. The fundamental group is a homotopy invariant—topological spaces that are homotopy equivalent (or the stronger case of homeomorphic) have isomorphic fundamental groups.
Kan fibrationIn mathematics, Kan complexes and Kan fibrations are part of the theory of simplicial sets. Kan fibrations are the fibrations of the standard structure on simplicial sets and are therefore of fundamental importance. Kan complexes are the fibrant objects in this model category. The name is in honor of Daniel Kan. For each n ≥ 0, recall that the , , is the representable simplicial set Applying the geometric realization functor to this simplicial set gives a space homeomorphic to the topological standard -simplex: the convex subspace of Rn+1 consisting of all points such that the coordinates are non-negative and sum to 1.
Higher-dimensional algebraIn mathematics, especially () , higher-dimensional algebra is the study of categorified structures. It has applications in nonabelian algebraic topology, and generalizes abstract algebra. Category theory#Higher-dimensional categories A first step towards defining higher dimensional algebras is the concept of of , followed by the more 'geometric' concept of double category. A higher level concept is thus defined as a of categories, or super-category, which generalises to higher dimensions the notion of – regarded as any structure which is an interpretation of Lawvere's axioms of the elementary theory of abstract categories (ETAC).
Homotopy type theoryIn mathematical logic and computer science, homotopy type theory (HoTT hɒt) refers to various lines of development of intuitionistic type theory, based on the interpretation of types as objects to which the intuition of (abstract) homotopy theory applies. This includes, among other lines of work, the construction of homotopical and models for such type theories; the use of type theory as a logic (or internal language) for abstract homotopy theory and ; the development of mathematics within a type-theoretic foundation (including both previously existing mathematics and new mathematics that homotopical types make possible); and the formalization of each of these in computer proof assistants.
