This entry is about the concept in category theory. For the core of a ring see there.
For any category or, more generally, (n,r)-category, its core is the maximal groupoid inside it, generally the maximal sub-(n,0)-category, hence the maximal -groupoid inside it.
Since a functor out of a groupoid , and generally an (n,r)-functor out of an -groupoid, necessarily takes values in isomorphisms or generally in equivalences, hence in the core of its codomain,
the core construction is the right adjoint to the full inclusion of groupoids among categories (generally: (n,0)-categories among (n,r)-categories):
(Incidentally, the forgetful functor from to also has a left adjoint, called the free groupoid-construction.)
For Cat a category, its core Grpd
is the groupoid which is the maximal sub-groupoid of : the subcategory consisting of all objects of but with morphisms only the isomorphisms of .
This construction extends to a 1-functor
We usually think of a groupoid as a special kind of category, but we can also think of a category as a groupoid equipped with additional morphisms. (This is possible because Grpd is a reflective subcategory of Cat.) One level decategorified, we usually think in the opposite way: a poset is a set equipped with a partial order, but we can also think of a set as a special kind of poset (specifically, a symmetric one).
Given a preordered set, regarded as a category, taking its core is the same as partitioning the set into equivalence classes of the preorder.
The core of FinSet is known as the permutation groupoid or symmetric groupoid or something similar.
A combinatorial species is a functor from the symmetric groupoid to Set.
The core functor of def. is right adjoint to the full subcategory-inclusion of groupoids into categories.
Given a category and a groupoid , a functor
(hence a functor out of the underlying category of ) has to send isomorphisms to isomorphisms, hence has to send every morphism of to an isomorphism in . This means that it factors through the core-inclusion
The left adjoint to is the localization functor that universally inverts every morphism in . On nerves this is Kan fibrant replacement.
The core of a dagger category consists of its unitary isomorphisms only. This is why, for example, it makes sense to think of Hilb either as a category whose morphisms are linear maps bounded by or as a dagger category whose morphisms are all linear maps; either way, the core is the same (invertible linear maps of norm exactly ).
The core of an -category is the -groupoid consisting only of equivalences at each level; the core of an -category is similarly an -groupoid: the core of a quasicategory is the maximal Kan complex inside it.
For more on this see also at category object in an (infinity,1)-category.
Discussion in the generality of -categories:
Last revised on October 7, 2024 at 22:41:03. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.