Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 23 7 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A monad on consists of an endofunctor and natural transformations and satisfying, at every object ,These are the unit and associativity laws for the unit and multiplication of a monad.
An algebra for a monad is a pair with satisfyingA monad algebra morphism is a morphism with . Identities satisfy this condition, and composing two such maps preserves it by functoriality of . The resulting Eilenberg-Moore category is denoted . Its forgetful functor sends to and leaves the underlying arrows unchanged.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 23 7 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the adjunction unit as and the adjunction counit as . Define the monad induced by an adjunction bywith unit . Naturality of makes a natural transformation.
The triangle identities for an adjunction give the two unit laws:For associativity, apply naturality of to the arrow in :Applying yieldsThus the induced data satisfy all the monad laws, rather than merely supplying an endofunctor and two transformations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 23 7 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Define the free algebra functor byThe monad laws say precisely that defines an monad algebra structure on , while naturality of makes an monad algebra morphism. We construct the adjunction explicitly.
For an monad algebra and a morphism , put . It is an monad algebra morphism becauseConversely, from an monad algebra morphism obtain . These operations are inverse: naturality of and the monad algebra unit law giveand the algebra-morphism equation together with the monad unit law givesThe formulas commute with precomposition in and composition with monad algebra morphisms in , so the bijections are natural. Therefore the free-forgetful Eilenberg-Moore adjunction isIts unit is and its counit at is the monad algebra action .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 23 8 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume the coequalizers from part (b) exist and write them . The underlying arrow of the comparison-adjunction unit isWe first relate it to the monad algebra action. Naturality of , the coequalizer equation and a monad unit law giveIn , is itself a split coequalizer of . Indeed,For an explicit universal-property proof, if satisfies , then obeysIts uniqueness follows by composing any equation with .
Now equalizes and . If it is a coequalizer, then and are coequalizers of the same pair. Their unique comparison map is , since , and is therefore invertible. Conversely, if is invertible, is an isomorphic copy of the coequalizer , so it is a coequalizer too.
The forgetful functor reflects isomorphisms: if an monad algebra morphism has an inverse as an underlying arrow, the equation rearranges to , making that inverse an monad algebra morphism. Thus underlying invertibility here is exactly invertibility of the unit component. For all monad algebras together, the comparison-adjunction unit criterion isEquivalently, the necessary-and-sufficient conditions for a left adjoint with invertible unit are existence of the coequalizers in part (b) and their preservation by . No preservation of arbitrary coequalizers is required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 24 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the elementary, or weak, topos axioms: finite limits and a power object for every object , naturally representing . No arbitrary products or coproducts are assumed. In particular is the subobject classifier. Inverse image of the membership relation defines for .
Interchanging the factors in a relation gives natural bijectionsThus the contravariant power-object functor has left adjoint . Its adjunction unit sends a generalized element to the predicate on given by membership of .
This unit is monic. If have the same image under , membership of and agrees in every -parameterized subobject of . Apply this to the graph of in : membership of is true, so membership of is true, which means . This argument uses parameterized relations, not an assumption that global elements detect morphisms.
The functor reflects isomorphisms. Suppose is invertible. Then is invertible, and naturality together with monicity of shows that is monic. Regard as a subobject of . Its inverse image along itself is the whole of , just as for the whole subobject of . Those two subobjects correspond to maps ; since is monic, they coincide. Therefore the subobject is all of , and is an isomorphism.
We now prove the preservation condition for the crude monadicity theorem. A reflexive pair in is a coreflexive pair in , with for some . Let be its equalizer. For any monomorphism , define on power objects by composing a parameterized subobject with ; no general image construction is needed because is monic. Inverse image followed by this extension obeys .
Here both are monic. For a parameterized subobject of , an element belongs to exactly when for some . Applying gives , so this condition is precisely and . Consequently, as morphisms of power objects,If equalizes , these identities giveIt therefore factors uniquely through , which is a split epimorphism with section . Since , also equalizes . Hence is their coequalizer. This proves explicitly that power objects turn coreflexive equalizers into coequalizers.
Finite equalizers in give all coequalizers of reflexive pairs in , and we have shown that preserves them and reflects isomorphisms. The crude monadicity theorem now yields
Fix a set of cardinality . If has -indexed products in a category, its Eilenberg-Moore category for the double-power monad has them, since the forgetful functor creates existing limits. The displayed equivalence then gives -products in , hence -coproducts in a category in .
For the converse, suppose those coproducts exist. The diagonal is a logical functor, because all the elementary topos structure in is pointwise, and it has left adjoint . Apply power-object monadicity to both toposes. Under their monadic identifications, is the lift of to the double-power Eilenberg-Moore categories. The base functor is a right adjoint to , so the adjoint lifting theorem for monad algebra functors gives a left adjoint to its algebra lift. Its required reflexive coequalizers exist in , since they are opposites of finite equalizers in . Taking opposites gives a right adjoint to , which is exactly the -product functor. Thus the products and coproducts of fixed cardinality in a topos satisfy
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 21 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put . The initial free construction sends to with . A function extends uniquely by . Its induced monad is , with unit and multiplication . An algebra for a monad is determined by the action of , so its Eilenberg-Moore category is . Thus this first free–forgetful adjunction is a monadic adjunction without needing the given assumption for .
The monadic length counts successive Eilenberg-Moore comparison functor steps until the comparison becomes an equivalence. Fix . For , the free construction in the preceding part adds the st operation with no fixed points. For , the free first operation also has no fixed points. Consequently the left adjoint to the composite forgetful functor is obtained by the one-step free construction, followed by empty higher operations. In particular, its underlying object of , unit and multiplication are exactly those of the one-step adjunction:as monads, not merely as object functions. The multiplication agrees because both counits evaluate the same first new operation and the same chains; no later operation has a value on a free object.
By the assumed one-step monadic adjunction property, or the explicit argument above when , the Eilenberg-Moore category is equivalent to . Under this equivalence the comparison is precisely . Indeed, its algebra action evaluates each newly adjoined chain using , and evaluates the first new value using ; it retains that operation and ignores all higher ones. The comparison has a left adjoint by the same explicit free extension. Thus the whole monadic tower for nested partial unary operations iswith the remaining comparison at stage equal to , and stage the identity.
It does not terminate earlier. If , take the same underlying two-element set in two objects of , making every operation up to the identity. In the first object make all remaining operations identities; in the second make exchange the two elements, and leave all subsequent operations undefined. Both satisfy the nesting rule. The identity function is a morphism after forgetting to , but is not a morphism between the original objects. Thus is not a full functor, and cannot be an equivalence. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 21 4 Solution 2026-10-14
Write and for the unit and counit of an adjunction. The induced monad hasThe Eilenberg-Moore comparison functor sends to the algebra for a monadand sends to . The triangle identities for an adjunction give the algebra unit law, and naturality of the counit gives the algebra multiplication law and the algebra-morphism equation for .
If has coequalizers, define the Left adjoint to the Eilenberg-Moore comparison functor at an algebra byThe parallel pair is reflexive through . A morphism is equivalently an arrow with . Under , its transpose is . The transpose of is , while the transpose of is . Hence the coequalizer condition is exactlythe equation for a morphism of algebras for a monad . This supplies the natural bijection proving , and also defines on algebra morphisms by the coequalizer universal property.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 25 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A monad consists of an endofunctor and natural transformations and satisfyingAn algebra for a monad is with satisfying and . A morphism of algebras for a monad obeys . The functor laws show that identities and composites obey this equation, giving the Eilenberg-Moore category .
For an adjunction , let be its adjunction unit and its adjunction counit. The monad induced by an adjunction isThe two unit laws are and , respectively the two triangle identities for an adjunction.
For associativity, naturality of the adjunction counit at saysApply to obtain . The composites defining and are natural transformations, so all monad axioms have been checked, not only their underlying objectwise types.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 25 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Define the forgetful functor , acting as the identity on underlying morphisms. Define the free algebra functor byThe monad laws make an algebra for a monad structure, and naturality of makes an monad algebra morphism.
For , define the transpose mapsThe map is an monad algebra morphism, because naturality of and the algebra associativity law giveFor , naturality of gives . Conversely, if is an monad algebra morphism, thenPrecomposing by a map into or postcomposing by an monad algebra morphism respects both formulas. Thus the bijection is natural and . This is the free-forgetful Eilenberg-Moore adjunction.
Its adjunction unit is the given ; its adjunction counit at is the monad algebra morphism . Hence , and the induced multiplication is the underlying counit at , namely . Therefore this adjunction induces exactly the original monad, including its unit and multiplication of a monad.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 18 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For the monad , an algebra for a monad is with and . A morphism of algebras for a monad satisfies . These objects and arrows form the Eilenberg-Moore category .
The free algebra functor sends to and to . The monad identities verify the algebra laws. For the forgetful functor , the free adjunction iswith inverse . The algebra law makes the latter an monad algebra morphism. The identities and prove the bijection.
In the category of adjunctions inducing a fixed monad, objects are adjunctions with their induced monad identified with . A morphism to is a functor between the right-hand categories satisfying , and compatibility with units and counits. With these strict identifications, defineThe triangle identities give the unit algebra law; naturality of at gives the multiplication law. Naturality at makes an monad algebra morphism. Moreover , because , and is the free-adjunction counit at . Hence is a morphism into the Eilenberg-Moore adjunction.
For any other such , its underlying object at must be . Counit compatibility forces its algebra action to be , and the forgetful functor, which is a faithful functor, forces . Thus . This proves terminality of the Eilenberg-Moore adjunction. If adjunctions are specified only up to coherent isomorphisms, the same argument gives uniqueness up to the corresponding compatible natural isomorphism.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 18 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A monad consists of an endofunctor and natural transformations and , the unit and multiplication of a monad, satisfyingAn algebra for a monad is with satisfying and . A morphism of algebras for a monad satisfies . These objects and morphisms form the Eilenberg-Moore category ; its composition works because is a functor.
For the list monad, is the set of finite ordered lists, including the empty list. The map applies to each entry; and concatenates a list of lists. The unit laws say that adding singleton brackets and then flattening changes nothing. Associativity says that flattening a list of lists of lists in either order produces the same ordered sequence. These descriptions also prove naturality.
If is an algebra for a monad, defineThe singleton law gives . Apply the algebra associativity law to and to obtain . Applying it to and showsThus is a monoid. Applying the same law to shows inductively that is necessarily ordered multiplication of its entries, with the empty product .
Conversely, any monoid defines such a list-fold map . The monoid unit proves , and associativity and the unit prove that multiplying flattened lists equals multiplying their individual products, including empty sublists. Hence . An algebra morphism preserves the empty-list value and two-entry-list values, so it is a monoid homomorphism; conversely a monoid homomorphism preserves every ordered product and is an algebra morphism. ThereforeThus list-monad algebras are monoids, with the identification also matching every morphism.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 18 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The free algebra functor isThe monad laws make an algebra action, and naturality of makes a morphism of algebras for a monad. Let forget the action. DefineThe proposed inverse is an algebra morphism becauseNaturality of and the algebra unit law give . If is an algebra morphism, thenThe formulas are natural in both variables, so . Its unit is , and its counit at has underlying map . Thus the monad induced by an adjunction has endofunctor , unit , and multiplication . It is exactly the original monad, not merely a monad with the same endofunctor.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 22 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the monad define the free algebra functor byThe unit and associativity identities of the monad make an algebra for a monad, and naturality of makes a morphism of algebras for a monad. Let be the forgetful functor. For in the Eilenberg-Moore category, setThe inverse candidate is a monad algebra morphism, sinceThe two composites are identities:These use respectively the unit law for a monad algebra, the algebra-morphism equation, and a unit identity of the monad. The formulas commute with precomposition in and postcomposition by monad algebra morphisms, so they form a natural bijection. Therefore the free-algebra functor is left adjoint to forgetting:Its adjunction unit is , and its adjunction counit at is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 22 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write and , with adjunction counit . The induced monad has and . Define the Eilenberg-Moore comparison functor byThe action satisfies by a triangular equation. Naturality of at givesApplying yields , the other algebra identity. For , naturality givesso is a monad algebra morphism. Identities and compositions are respected because is a functor. Finally,and the same equalities hold on morphisms. Thus both comparison identities hold, strictly when is the specified induced monad: