We shall say that a morphism in a category is cartesian with respect to a functor , or that is -cartesian, if for every object , and every pair of morphisms and such that , there exists a unique morphism such that and ,
Dually, we shall say that a morphism is cocartesian with respect to a functor , or that is -cocartesian, if the opposite morphism in is cartesian with respect to the functor .
Let us spell out the definition of a cocartesian morphism. A morphism in a category is cocartesian with respect to a functor iff for every object , and every pair of morphisms and such that , there exists a unique morphism such that and .
A morphism in a category is invertible iff it is cartesian with respect to the functor iff it is cartesian with respect to every functor .
Let be the arrow category of a category . A morphism in is a commutative square of maps in ,
If is the target functor (which associates to a map its target ), then a morphism in is cartesian with respect to iff the square (1) is cartesian. If is the source functor (which associates to a map its source ), then a morphism in is cocartesian with respect to iff the square (1) is cocartesian.
A morphism in is cocartesian with respect to the target functor iff the map is invertible, and is cartesian with respect to the source functor iff the map is invertible.
A morphism in a category is cartesian with respect to a functor iff it satisfies the following equivalent conditions:
(1) for every object the following square is cartesian in the category of sets,
where the vertical maps are induced by the functor .
(2) the following square of categories is cartesian in the category of categories,
where the vertical functors are induced by the functor , and where the functor and are respectively defined by composing with and .
Left as an exercise to the reader.
Suppose that a morphism in a category is cartesian with respect to a functor . Then a morphism in is -cartesian iff the composite morphism is -cartesian.
The hypothesis implies that the right hand square of the following commutative diagram is cartesian.
It then follows from the lemma here that the left hand square is cartesian iff the composite square is cartesian.
Let be a morphism in , and let and be two functors. If the morphism is -cartesian then is -cartesian iff it is -cartesian.
The hypothesis implies that the bottom square of the following commutative diagram is cartesian,
It then follows from the lemma here that the top square is cartesian iff the composite square is cartesian.
We shall say that a functor is a Grothendieck fibration if for every object and every morphism with target there exists a -cartesian morphism with target such that ,
Dually, we shall say that a functor is a Grothendieck opfibration if the opposite functor is a Grothendieck fibration. We shall say that a functor is a Grothendieck bifibration if it is both a Grothendieck fibration and a Grothendieck opfibration.
Let us spell out the definition of a Grothendieck opfibration. A functor is a Grothendieck opfibration iff for every object and every morphism with source there exists a cocartesian morphism with source such that ,
Recall that a functor is said to be a discrete fibration if for every object and every morphism with target there exists a unique morphism with target such that . Every discrete fibration is a Grothendieck fibration.
Let be the arrow category of a category . Then the target functor is a Grothendieck opfibration, and it is a fibration iff the category has pullbacks. Dually the source functor is a Grothendieck fibration, and it is an opfibration iff the category has pushouts.
Let be the category whose objects are the pairs , where is a ring and is a left -module, and whose morphisms are the pairs , where is a ring homorphism and is a map of left -modules. If is the category of rings, then the obvious forgetful functor is a Grothendieck bifibration. A morphism is -cartesian iff is invertible, and it is -cocartesian iff the induce map of -modules is invertible.
The class of Grothendieck fibrations in the category is closed under composition and base changes.
Let us show that the composite of two Grothendieck fibrations and is a Grothendieck fibration.
Let us show that for every object and every morphism with target , there exists a -cartesian morphism with target and such that . By hypothesis, there exists a -cartesian morphism with target such that , since is a Grothendieck fibration. But then, there exists a -cartesian morphism with target such that , since is a Grothendieck fibration,
The morphism is -cartesian by Proposition and we have . This proves that is a Grothendieck fibration. Let us now prove that the base change of a Gothendieck fibration along a functor is a Grothendieck fibration ,
For this we have to show that for every object and every morphism with target , there exists a -cartesian morphism with target such that . Let us put and . The target of is equal to ,
Hence there exists a -cartesian morphism with target such that , since the functor is a Grothendieck fibration by hypothesis,
There is then a unique morphism such that and , since the square (2) is cartesian. If , then where ,
It remains to show that is -cartesian. For this it suffices to show that the left hand face of the following cube is cartesian by Proposition ,
But the back and front faces of the cube are cartesian, since the square (2) is cartesian. The right hand face is also cartesian by Proposition , since the morphism is -cartesian. It then follows from the lemma here that the left hand face is cartesian.
If the image of a morphism by a functor is invertible, then is -cartesian iff it is invertible.
The notion of a cartesian morphism with respect to a functor can be analysed by using the collage category of the distribuor defined by putting for and . The natural inclusion turns the category into a full reflexive subcategory of . If , then the element , defined by the identity of is reflecting the object into the subcategory . For every morphism in there is a naturality square in ,
Show that the morphism is -cartesian iff the naturality square is cartesian in the category .