nLab inserter

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Context

2-Category theory

Limits and colimits

Contents

Idea

An inserter is a particular kind of 2-limit in a 2-category, which universally inserts a 2-morphism between a pair of parallel 1-morphisms.

Definition

Let f,g:ABf,g\colon A\rightrightarrows B be a pair of parallel 1-morphisms in a 2-category. The inserter of ff and gg is a universal object VV equipped with a morphism v:VAv\colon V\to A and a 2-morphism α:fvgv\alpha\colon f v \to g v.

More precisely, universality means that for any object XX, the induced functor

Hom(X,V)Ins(Hom(X,f),Hom(X,g))Hom(X,V) \to Ins(Hom(X,f),Hom(X,g))

is an equivalence, where Ins(Hom(X,f),Hom(X,g))Ins(Hom(X,f),Hom(X,g)) denotes the category whose objects are pairs (u,β)(u,\beta) where u:XAu\colon X\to A is a morphism and β:fugu\beta\colon f u \to g u is a 2-morphism. If this functor is an isomorphism of categories, then we say that VvAV\xrightarrow{v} A is a strict inserter.

Inserters and strict inserters can be described as a certain sort of weighted 2-limit, where the diagram shape is the walking parallel pair P=()P = (\cdot \rightrightarrows\cdot) and the weight PCatP\to Cat is the diagram

1I1 \;\rightrightarrows\; I

where 11 is the terminal category and II is the interval category. Note that inserters are not equivalent to any sort of conical 2-limit.

An inserter in K opK^{op} (see opposite 2-category) is called a coinserter in KK.

Example: the strict 2-category of categories

In the strict 2-category Cat of categories, inserters can be concretely described as follows.

The input data is two categories, AA and BB, and two functors, F,G:ABF,G\colon A\to B. The objects of the inserter are pairs (X,b)(X,b), where XAX\in A and b:F(X)G(X)b\colon F(X)\to G(X). Morphisms (X,b)(X,b)(X,b)\to(X',b') are morphisms f:XXf\colon X\to X' such that bF(f)=G(f)bb'\circ F(f)=G(f)\circ b. The functor from the inserter to AA discards the data of bb.

The inserter in CatCat is also called the category of dialgebras.

Properties

Examples

  • Let CC denote a category and F:CCF : C \rightarrow C denote a functor. Then the notion of an algebra for an endofunctor of FF corresponds to the inserter of FF and id C\mathrm{id}_C, and the notion of a coalgebra for an endofunctor of FF corresponds to the inserter of id C\mathrm{id}_C and FF.

References

Last revised on December 17, 2022 at 10:42:56. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.