Contents

Definition

A monoid consists of

• A type $A$,
• A basepoint $e:A$
• A binary operation $\mu : A \to A \to A$
• A contractible left unit identity
  $$c_\lambda:\prod_{(a:G)} isContr(\mu(e,a)=a)$$
• A contractible right unit identity
  $$c_\rho:\prod_{(a:G)} isContr(\mu(a,e)=a)$$
• A contractible associative identity
  $$c_\alpha:\prod_{(a:G)} \prod_{(b:G)} \prod_{(c:G)} isContr(\mu(\mu(a, b),c)=\mu(a,\mu(b,c)))$$
• A 0-truncator
  $$\tau_0: \prod_{(a:A)} \prod_{(b:A)} isProp(a=b)$$

Properties

Monoid homomorphisms

A monoid homomorphism between two monoids $A$ and $B$ consists of

• A function $\phi:A \to B$ such that
  • The basepoint is preserved
    $$\phi(e_A) = e_B$$
  • The binary operation is preserved
    $$\prod_{(a:A)} \prod_{(b:A)} \phi(\mu_A(a, b)) = \mu_B(\phi(a),\phi(b))$$

For any function

the contractible left unit identity is preserved:

because

is contractible. Likewise, for any function

the contractible right unit identity is preserved:

because

is contractible, and for any function

the contractible associative identity is preserved:

because

is contractible. Finally, the 0-truncator is always preserved in a function between two sets.

Monoid isomorphisms

A monoid isomorphism between two monoids $A$ and $B$ consists of

• a monoid homomorphism $f: A \to B$
• a monoid homomorphism $f^{-1}: B \to A$ that is an inverse function of $f$.

Examples

• Every contractible magma is a monoid.

• The integers are a monoid.

• Given a set $A$, the type of endofunctions $A \to A$ has the structure of an monoid, with basepoint $id_A$, operation function composition.

See also

• commutative monoid
• group
• action

References

• Univalent Foundations Project, Homotopy Type Theory – Univalent Foundations of Mathematics (2013)