A groupoid is connected if it is inhabited and every object is connected by a morphism to every other object.
So the skeletal connected groupoids are precisely the delooping groupoids of groups.
In homotopy theory, groupoids model exactly the homotopy 1-types and connected groupoids model the connected homotopy 1-types. For instance the fundamental groupoid of a connected topological space is a connected groupoid.
Every category induces a free groupoid by freely inverting all its morphisms. A category is called connected if the groupoid is.
A category is connected if it is inhabited and the following equivalent conditions hold:
the -groupoidification of the category (the Kan fibrant replacement of its nerve) is a connected ∞-groupoid.
the geometric realization of its nerve is a connected topological space.
the localization of at all its morphisms is a connected groupoid.
Note that the empty category is not connected. For other purposes, one can argue about whether the empty set should be called “connected” (see connected space), but for the applications of connected categories, the empty category should definitely not be called connected. In particular, a terminal object is not a connected limit.
A connected limit is a limit whose domain diagram category is connected.
The notion of connected groupoids was originally defined in
whence some authors also speak of Brandt groupoids.
For more see the references at groupoids.
Last revised on May 7, 2024 at 21:16:31. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.