Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-20/5/ii/solution

Working with a small category (or in a fixed ambient universe), for a categorical presheaf and fixed , apply the categorical coend construction to . It is the quotient of the disjoint union of pairs by the relations
Define . It respects every relation because . Define . Then . Conversely the relation with gives , so is the identity morphism. Therefore
For , restriction on the categorical coend sends to , and . A natural transformation likewise acts on the second coordinate and commutes with . Thus the density formula for presheaves is a natural isomorphism, not just a family of unrelated bijections.

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