A functor is finite-limit-preserving if it carries each finite limit cone to a limiting cone. When is a small category with finite limits, this is equivalent to being a filtered colimit in a category of covariant representable functors, and to the opposite of its category of elements being a filtered category. It is also equivalent to every comma category having finite limits, for all sets .
In a filtered colimit in a category of sets, any finite zigzag of generating identifications can be moved to one common stage. The filtered category conditions supply common objects and equalize the finitely many competing arrows. Consequently finitely many representatives and finitely many equalities can be realized simultaneously at one stage. This is the elementwise reason filtered colimits commute with finite limits in sets.
A preframe has finite meets and joins of nonempty directed sets, with finite meets distributing over these joins. A preframe homomorphism preserves both operations. Its preframe tensor product has generators and relations making a homomorphism separately in each variable. Equivalently,
In particular . The tensor unit is the free preframe on one generator: classically it is , and constructively it is the frame of truth values, with generator .
Regard a frame as a commutative monoid object in preframes, with multiplication and unit . Binary join preserves finite meets and directed joins separately. Conversely take a commutative monoid object in preframes and put
This set contains and , since preservation of the empty meet gives . If , then , and
Thus finite meets are inherited. If is nonempty and directed, separate preservation of directed joins gives
because a common upper bound gives . Directed joins are inherited too. Associativity and commutativity show that is idempotent; it is the least idempotent upper bound of . Therefore is the bottom and is binary join on . Arbitrary joins are directed joins of finite products, including the empty product . Finally
so binary distributivity, together with directed distributivity, proves that is a frame.
A homomorphism from a frame join monoid to sends every element to an idempotent above and therefore factors uniquely through . The factor preserves finite joins and directed joins, hence arbitrary joins. Conversely the inclusion preserves the preframe and monoid operations. Also a preframe monoid homomorphism between frames is automatically a frame homomorphism. This proves the full embedding and its right adjoint: is a coreflective subcategory of , with coreflector .
The coproduct of commutative monoid objects in a symmetric monoidal category is their tensor: the maps are , , and a pair induces . For two frames , the induced multiplication on pure generators is
Every pure generator is idempotent and above . Those properties are preserved by finite meets and directed joins, as just proved, so hold throughout the generated preframe. It is therefore already a frame, rather than requiring a further coreflection. Consequently
Rectangles in the localic product are instead .
For a filtered colimit in a category of frames, form the colimit in preframes, with stage maps . It can be presented by stage elements, all their finite-meet and directed-join relations, and the transition relations. Since tensoring is a left adjoint, it preserves colimits. Filteredness makes the diagonal diagram cofinal in the product index diagram, so the stage multiplications induce . The units agree. Each stage element is idempotent above the common unit; generation again implies . The resulting frame is the filtered colimit in a category in ; its binary join is induced by computing two representatives at a common later stage. Thus binary coproducts and filtered colimits of frames are computed in preframes, with the indicated induced join operation.
We now prove compactness. For a compact locale, its frame has a top test , , preserving finite meets and directed joins. For compact , tensor the tests and use the unit isomorphism to obtain a preframe map with
It reflects top on every pure generator. The property is closed under finite meets and directed joins: for a directed join, preservation of the join says that its truth value is the existential disjunction of the individual truth values, so some term has value . Since pure generators generate the preframe, reflects top everywhere. Applying to a directed cover of therefore shows that a term of that cover is . This proves compactness of the binary coproduct frame, hence of the binary product locale.
For a filtered diagram of compact frames, define on stage
These truth-valued maps preserve finite meets: witnesses can be taken to a common later stage, using filteredness. They preserve directed joins: compactness at the witnessing later stage selects a member of the directed family. They are compatible with transitions, again by filteredness, so induce a preframe map . On stage generators, implies . The same generation argument proves that reflects top throughout . Thus the filtered colimit frame is compact.
Finally the arbitrary coproduct of the frames is the filtered colimit of their finite coproducts, indexed by finite subsets of the index set; the empty finite coproduct is , itself compact. Finite coproducts are compact by the binary argument, and their filtered colimit is compact by the preceding paragraph. Opposing the categories gives
This proves the localic Tychonoff theorem through preframes, without choosing points or invoking the axiom of choice.
By the canonical colimit presentation of a covariant set-valued functor established in the first part,
Each vertex is a representable functor. Under condition the indexing category of elements, with its arrows reversed, is a filtered category, so this is a filtered colimit in a category. Therefore , with the requested diagram itself providing the filtered presentation.