In universal algebra, a direct product is simply a product in a concrete category that is created by the forgetful functor.
Compare the direct sum, a more complicated concept.
Trivially, a cartesian product of sets is a direct product in Set.
One of the requirements of a topological category is that any family of objects must have a direct product, although the term ‘direct product’ is not used in topology.
Many algebraic categories, such as Grp, Ab, Ring, etc, also have all direct products; this is where the term ‘direct product’ originated.
The category of (-valued) models of any Lawvere theory has all direct products; this includes the examples from algebra above.
Last revised on August 26, 2012 at 23:54:41. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.