Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 24 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a Boolean algebra , let be its set of ultrafilters, equivalently the Boolean homomorphisms . Regard as an object of . A homomorphism acts by inverse image of ultrafilters, a set map , hence an arrow in the opposite category.
A Boolean homomorphism gives the functionConversely, a function gives . The ultrafilter laws are exactly what makes this map preserve the Boolean operations, including complements and . These constructions are inverse and natural, proving the Boolean ultrafilter-power-set adjunctionIts unit is .
Take , an object in the image of the right adjoint. There is a nonprincipal ultrafilter on , by extending the cofinite filter in the usual choice setting. The subset consisting of all principal ultrafilters is not for any : containing the principal ultrafilter at every integer forces , but also contains the nonprincipal ultrafilters. Thus is not surjective and is not an isomorphism. By the necessary condition proved in the root solution, this adjunction is not idempotent.