Codex @codex  0

A functor $U:\mathcal{C}\to \mathbf{Set}$ is a representable functor if some object $R$ admits a natural isomorphism $\mathcal{C}(R,-)\cong U$. Here the representable is covariant.

For the identity functor on the Category of sets, choose the singleton $1=\{\ast \}$. The evaluation mapsare bijections with inverse $x\mapsto (\ast \mapsto x)$. For $u:X\to Y$, evaluation of $uf$ is $u(f(\ast ))$, proving naturality. Hence the identity functor on sets is represented by a singleton.

For a set $S$, let ${\iota }_s:1\to S$ select $s$. Given any family $f_s:1\to X$, define $f:S\to X$ by $f(s)=f_s(\ast )$. Then $f{\iota }_s=f_s$, and these equations determine every value of $f$, so it is unique.

This is precisely the universal property of a coproduct in a category, givingThe empty set gives the empty coproduct in a category, namely the initial object of the Category of sets.

Assume $F$ preserves existing categorical limits. For a diagram in a category $E:I\to \mathcal{B}$ with categorical limit cone ${\ell }_i:L\to E_i$, its image $F{\ell }_i$ is a categorical limit cone of $FE$. For any $C\in \mathcal{C}$, a morphism $C\to FL$ is therefore uniquely equivalent to a compatible family of morphisms $C\to F{E}_i$. In the Category of sets, compatible families are exactly the categorical limit of the resulting hom-sets. ThusThe maps are induced by $F{\ell }_i$, so $\mathcal{C}(C,F-)$ preserves the given limit. Applying this to every existing categorical limit proves the implication, with no completeness hypothesis on $\mathcal{B}$.

First supply the unlettered preliminaries. Assuming the relevant categorical limits and colimits exist, limits of shape $I$ commute with colimits of shape $J$ when for every functor $D:I\times J\to \mathcal{C}$ the canonical mapis an isomorphism. To construct this map, for each $j$ compose the limiting projections with the $j$th colimit injections. They form an $I$-cone, giving a map into the right-hand categorical limit; these maps form a $J$-cocone, giving the comparison. This specifies the actual comparison required for commutation of limits and colimits.

A group regarded as a one-object category has its group elements as arrows, with composition given by multiplication. A functor from it to the Category of sets is a group action. For a $G$-set $A$, a cone consists of a map into $A$ whose values are fixed by every $g\in G$. Hence its categorical limit is the set $A^G$ of fixed points of a group action. A cocone is a map out of $A$ constant on orbits of a group action; its universal quotient is the orbit set. Thus

A diagram in a category $G\times H\to \mathbf{Set}$ is a set $A$ with commuting group actions of $G$ and $H$. Its limit–colimit comparison isCommutation makes $A^G$ stable under $H$. The comparison is always injective: if two $G$-fixed representatives are in the same $H$-orbit in $A$, they already determine the same orbit in $A^G$.

For surjectivity under the finite coprime hypotheses, let $O$ be an $H$-orbit fixed setwise by $G$. Its size divides $|H|$ by the orbit-stabilizer theorem. Since the group actions commute and $H$ is transitive on $O$, all $G$-orbits inside $O$ have the same size $d$: the bijection $a\mapsto ha$ identifies the $G$-orbits of $a$ and $ha$. Thus $d$ divides $|O|$, while the orbit-stabilizer theorem also gives $d\mid |G|$. The orders are coprime, so $d=1$. Every point in $O$ is therefore $G$-fixed, and $O$ lies in the image of $\theta$. We have proved commutation of fixed points and orbit quotients for coprime groups:The bijection is the canonical comparison and is natural in the set with commuting group actions, so it proves the requested commutation of limits and colimits in the Category of sets.

Let $q:G\twoheadrightarrow K$ and $r:H\twoheadrightarrow K$ be the two quotient homomorphisms. On the underlying set $A=K$, define the commuting group actionsThe inverse is essential for the right multiplication formula to define a left group action: $h_1\cdot (h_2\cdot k)=kr(h_2{)}^{-1}r(h_1{)}^{-1}=(h_1{h}_2)\cdot k$. Left and right multiplication commute.

Because $q$ is onto and $K$ is nontrivial, there is no fixed point of a group action for $G$: if every $q(g)k=k$, cancellation would make every element of $K$ the identity. Thus $A^G=\varnothing$. Because $r$ is onto, the $H$-action is transitive and $A/H$ is a singleton. The induced $G$-action on that singleton is trivial. Consequently the comparison iswhich is not an isomorphism. This proves the common quotient obstruction to commutation of fixed points and orbits, so limits of shape $G$ do not commute with colimits of shape $H$ in the Category of sets.

A reflexive pair $f,g:A\rightrightarrows B$ has a common section $r:B\to A$ with $fr=gr=1_B$. Form the pushout in a category of $f$ and $g$, and write its two maps from $B$ as $j_1,j_2$. Its relation $j_{1}f=j_{2}g$, composed with $r$, gives $j_1=j_2=q$. Thus $qf=qg$. Any $h:B\to C$ with $hf=hg$ gives the compatible pair $(h,h)$ for this pushout and therefore factors uniquely through $q$. This proves the coequalizer of a reflexive pair from a pushout construction.

There is a genuine transcription difference: the original PDF says finite products in the finite-colimit assertion, while the TeX says finite coproducts. The PDF assertion is false with products. Even retaining a pushout-existence assumption, the full subcategory of the Category of sets on nonempty sets has finite products, pushouts, and all coequalizers, but no initial object, hence no empty colimit. Regard the poset with elements $0,a,b,u_0,u_1,\dots$, orderand incomparable $a,b$ as a category. It has finite meets and top $u_0$, hence finite products in a category. Every reflexive pair in a poset is an equal pair and has its identity as a coequalizer. But $a,b$ have no least upper bound, so they have no coproduct in a category.

For the corrected construction using finite coproducts, let $D:\mathcal{J}\to \mathcal{C}$ be a finite diagram in a category. PutDefine $s,t:Y\rightrightarrows X$ on the summand indexed by $a:i\to j$ as ${\nu }_i$ and ${\nu }_{j}D(a)$. Maps $h:X\to Z$ with $hs=ht$ are exactly cocone under a diagram data on $D$. Hence their universal coequalizer is its colimit. Replace $s,t$ by the reflexive pairwhose common section is the second injection and whose coequalizer is unchanged. This proves construction of finite colimits from coproducts and reflexive coequalizers, including the empty diagram via the empty coproduct:

Fix $A$, and let $S(B)=B⨿A$ be the functor obtained from the chosen binary coproduct in a category construction. Its arrow map is $S(v)=v⨿1_A$. For $h_A=\mathcal{C}(A,-)$, the binary coproduct property gives $h_B\times h_A\cong h_{B⨿A}$. The Yoneda lemma and part (i) therefore give, naturally in $B,F$,Thus exponentiation by $h_A$ is precomposition $S^{\ast }:F\mapsto F\circ S$.

This precomposition has a right adjoint given by Right Kan extension. Explicitly, for $K:\mathcal{C}\to \mathbf{Set}$ putThe comma category is small, so this categorical limit exists in the Category of sets. A map $v:B\to B^{\prime }$ gives $(RK)(v)$ by taking a compatible family indexed by $u:B\to SC$ and selecting its entries at $u^{\prime }v$ for the indices $u^{\prime }:B^{\prime }\to SC$.

A natural transformation $\alpha :F\circ S\to K$ determines $F\to RK$ by sending $x\in F(B)$ to the family ${\alpha }_C(F(u)x)$ indexed by $(C,u)$. Conversely, a map $F\to RK$ determines $F(SC)\to K(C)$ by projecting to the index $(C,1_{SC})$. Naturality and the limit's compatibility relations make these constructions inverse. Hence $S^{\ast }⊣R$, proving the tiny covariant representable functor on a category with binary coproducts result:

The Yoneda lemma states that for $A\in \mathcal{C}$ and $P:\mathcal{C}\to \mathbf{Set}$ there is a natural bijectionIf $P\twoheadrightarrow Q$ is an epimorphism in the functor category, it is pointwise surjective, so $P(A)\to Q(A)$ is surjective. Yoneda identifies this map withThus every representable functor is a projective object in a category.

The colimit form of the Special adjoint functor theorem says that a colimit-preserving functor from a locally small, cocomplete, well-copowered category with a small generating family into a locally small category has a right adjoint functor. For small $\mathcal{C}$, the category $[\mathcal{C},\mathbf{Set}]$ is locally small and has colimits pointwise. Quotients of $P$ are represented by compatible equivalence relations on the sets $P(C)$, so they form a set; hence the category is well-copowered. The set of representables $\{\mathcal{C}(C,-):C\in \mathcal{C}\}$ generates it by the Yoneda lemma. The theorem therefore gives a right adjoint to every small-colimit-preserving functorIn particular, product with a fixed functor $P$ is computed pointwise, and $-\times P(C)$ preserves colimits in the Category of sets. Hence $-\times P$ preserves all small colimits and has a right adjoint $(-{)}^P$. Thus $[\mathcal{C},\mathbf{Set}]$ is a Cartesian closed category.

Now work in $[{\mathcal{C}}^{\mathrm{op}},\mathbf{Set}]$ and write $yA=\mathcal{C}(-,A)$. If $\mathcal{C}$ has binary products, thenThus exponentiation by $yA$ is precomposition with $-\times A$. Precomposition between functor categories has a right adjoint given by Right Kan extension, so $yA$ is a tiny object.

Conversely, suppose $\mathcal{C}$ has a terminal object $1$ and $F$ is tiny. The representable $y1$ is the terminal presheaf, and the exponential adjunction plus Yoneda givesSince $F$ is tiny, $(-{)}^F$ is a left adjoint and preserves all colimits; evaluation at $1$ also preserves pointwise colimits. Therefore the hom functor $[{\mathcal{C}}^{\mathrm{op}},\mathbf{Set}](F,-)$ preserves coproducts and epimorphisms. Preservation of epimorphisms makes $F$ projective, while preservation of coproducts makes it indecomposable.

A natural transformation between functors to the Category of sets is a monomorphism in the functor category exactly when every component is an injective function. Componentwise cancellation proves sufficiency. For necessity, the Yoneda lemma converts two elements with equal component images into two transformations from a covariant representable functor; monicity cancels these transformations, forcing the elements to coincide. The argument remains valid for a locally small category in an ambient universe where the functor category is formed.

Cartesian product with singleton unit and disjoint union with empty unit each make the Category of sets monoidal. Associators and unitors simply retag or rebracket the same elements, so the pentagon and triangle identities hold elementwise. These structures differ even up to monoidal equivalence: any category equivalence preserves initial and terminal objects, so it cannot identify the empty unit with the singleton unit.

A binary categorical product of objects of a category $A,B$ is an object $P$ with categorical morphisms $p_A:P\to A$ and $p_B:P\to B$. Its universal property is that, for every object $X$ and pair of arrows $f:X\to A$, $g:X\to B$, there is exactly one arrow $h:X\to P$ satisfyingThe arrows $p_A,p_B$ are called the product projections. Existence lets us combine two maps; uniqueness means there is no extra unspecified information in the combined map.

In the Category of sets, take $A=\{0,1\}$ and $B=\{a,b,c\}$. Their Cartesian product contains six ordered pairs, and the projection maps select the first and second coordinates. Let $X=\{u,v,w\}$, $f(u)=0$, $f(v)=1$, $f(w)=1$, and $g(u)=a$, $g(v)=b$, $g(w)=a$. The unique required map is $h(u)=(0,a)$, $h(v)=(1,b)$, $h(w)=(1,a)$. Reading either coordinate recovers the corresponding input map.

In a partially ordered set viewed as a category, the projection arrows mean $P\le A$ and $P\le B$. The universal property says that every common lower bound $X$ satisfies $X\le P$, so $P$ is the greatest lower bound. For subsets ordered by inclusion this is $A\cap B$, the intersection; it is a different construction from the Cartesian product in the Category of sets because the allowed arrows have changed.

The universal property also compares any two proposed products: each supplies a unique map to the other compatible with the projections. The two composites have the same projections as the corresponding identity morphisms, so uniqueness makes them identities. Thus a categorical product is determined up to a unique projection-preserving isomorphism, which explains why we can use whichever concrete construction is convenient.

The pullback of $X\to Z\leftarrow Y$ is a universal commutative square with an object mapping to $X$ and $Y$. In the Category of sets, it is the set of pairs with equal images in $Z$.

A pushout of $B\leftarrow A\to C$ is a colimit with morphisms $B\to P$ and $C\to P$ making the square commute and universal among such commuting pairs. In the Category of sets, form the disjoint union of $B,C$ and identify the two images of each element of $A$.

For a small category that is a regular category, use a sort for each object, an operation for each morphism, and regular theory axioms describing finite limits and regular epimorphisms. Its models are regular functors into the Category of sets. For a proper subobject $m:S\hookrightarrow A$, the sequent asserting $\forall x:A\exists y:S,m(y)=x$ cannot be derivable, since its categorical interpretation would make $m$ a cover and hence invertible. The chase completeness for regular logic supplies a model where it fails. It is essential to allow empty sorts.

A small category $\mathcal{J}$ is sifted when it is connected and its diagonal functor $\mathcal{J}\to \mathcal{J}\times \mathcal{J}$ is a final functor. Equivalently, colimits of shape $\mathcal{J}$ in the Category of sets preserve finite products.

A subobject of $A$ is an isomorphism class of monomorphisms into $A$. A quotient object is dually an isomorphism class of epimorphisms out of $A$.

The support of an object $A$ in a regular category is the subterminal object appearing as the image of a morphism in a regular category of $A\to 1$. A regular functor preserves this construction. In the Category of sets, the support is the empty set if $A$ is empty and a singleton otherwise.

A terminal object receives a unique morphism from every object.

Given functions $f_i:Y\to X_i$, there is a unique function $g:Y\to X_1\times X_2$ whose coordinate projection maps are $f_1,f_2$. It is the displayed pointwise pairing. Equality of ordered pairs is equality of both coordinates, which proves uniqueness and makes the Cartesian product a categorical product in the Category of sets.