Capital regular category

A capital regular category, in the convention of Definitions 1.1–1.3, is a regular category whose well-supported objects are well-pointed objects in a category. It does not require arbitrary objects to be detected by global points. A partially ordered set with finite meets, regarded as a category, is capital: its only well-supported object is the top element. Such a category can have many proper subterminal objects, all with no points. This example distinguishes the definition from the stronger convention that the global-sections functor reflects every isomorphism.

Here $I$ is a set regarded as a discrete category. Finite limits and regular epimorphisms are coordinatewise. A well-supported object is a family of nonempty sets. With the axiom of choice, every coordinate element extends to a global point of its product. Any subobject containing all global points must therefore contain every coordinate element, and be the whole family. Thus the category is capital. Families with some empty coordinates explain why global points need not reflect arbitrary isomorphisms.

If some $f_i$ is not injective, extend two distinct equal-image elements to tuples using common choices at all other coordinates; the product is not injective. If some $f_i$ is not surjective, extend a missing target element to a tuple; the product is not surjective. The axiom of choice supplies these extensions. Thus the set-product functor reflects isomorphisms between families whose coordinates are all nonempty.

Choose one regular functor witnessing the regular-logic separation of a proper subobject for each proper subobject represented by a monomorphism of the small regular category. Their product is regular and reflects invertibility of monomorphisms. If an arbitrary morphism becomes invertible, its image inclusion becomes invertible and so does the diagonal of its kernel pair. The original morphism is both a regular epimorphism and a monomorphism, hence invertible. The target is a power of sets as a capital regular category. This proves an isomorphism-reflecting regular representation without asserting full faithfulness.

In a locally small capital regular category, $\Gamma$ is a regular functor and reflects terminal objects. A well-supported object $A$ has a point: otherwise $A\times A$ is well-supported with no points, so its diagonal is invertible by well-pointedness; then $A$ is subterminal and its regular epimorphism to $1$ is invertible, a contradiction. Pulling a regular epimorphism back along a point gives a well-supported object, so the point lifts. This proves preservation of regular epimorphisms, while representability gives limit preservation. If $\Gamma X$ is a singleton, its unique point $1\to X$ is monic and contains all points; $X$ is well-supported, so that point is invertible. Global sections need not reflect arbitrary isomorphisms between objects of proper support.