Closed local operator Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
For a subterminal object classified by , the closed local operator is . Its closed monos contain the pullback of that subterminal, hence are exactly the monos dense for the corresponding open local operator.
Complementary open and closed local operators Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
The open local operator and closed local operator associated with have meet the identity and join the largest local operator. The meet identity is . Every mono factors through its union with as a closed-operator-dense mono followed by an open-operator-dense mono, proving that their join makes every mono dense.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 24 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work internally with the Heyting algebra and the truth value of . For , the identitiesprove that it is an open local operator.
For a monomorphism with characteristic map , density means , equivalently . This says exactly that is contained in , or that the pullback mono is invertible. Consequently
An object is an -sheaf exactly when the canonical map , taking a value to its constant function on , is invertible. Indeed is dense for every . The sheaf condition makes bijective for every , which proves invertible by the Yoneda lemma. Conversely, if is invertible and is dense, the isomorphism givesso is a sheaf.
The pullback functor has right adjoint , sending to . Every map is automatically over , since is subterminal object, proving this adjunction directly. Its counit is evaluation and is invertible. The inverse sends to its image in together with the constant function of value ; all elements of agree, so the composites are identities. The right adjoint is therefore full and faithful, and its image consists of objects fixed by . The sheaf characterization above proves
For a general local operator , its dense monomorphism classifier is the ordered subobjectA mono is j-dense exactly when its characteristic map factors through . If , then , which has least element . This is least internally over every parameter object, not just among global points.
Conversely suppose a global is internally least. Upward closure of gives exactly when , in every context. For let be its -closure, with characteristic predicate . The mono is dense: restricting to gives truth. Its characteristic map therefore lands in , so leastness of gives . Internally this isOn the other hand , and applying to gives . Inflationarity then gives . Both inequalities yieldThis proves the least dense truth characterizes an open local operator criterion without replacing its internal order condition by the weaker condition on global truth values.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 20 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A local operator, also called a Lawvere-Tierney topology, is a map which internally satisfiesThe closure operation of a local operator sends a mono with characteristic map to the subobject classified by . It is inflationary, idempotent and pullback-stable. A mono is j-dense if its closure is its whole codomain, and j-closed if it equals its closure. A j-sheaf is an object for which restrictionis a bijection for every j-dense mono ; requiring only injectivity defines a j-separated object.
Here is a construction underlying the sheaf reflector for a local operator. The closed-subobject classifier is a j-sheaf: closed subobjects on a dense subobject extend uniquely by taking their closure in the larger object. Powers are also sheaves, because products of a dense mono with remain dense. A j-closed subobject of a sheaf is a sheaf: first extend a map into the ambient sheaf, then use density to force its image into the closed subobject.
Close the diagonal of . Its j-closure is an equivalence relation, using preservation of finite meets and pullback-stability to verify transitivity. The effective quotient is the separated reflection: every map from into a separated object identifies that closed diagonal and factors uniquely. For separated , the closed-singleton mapis monic. Its j-closed image closure is a sheaf, and is dense. Unique extension across that mono, following the separated quotient factorization, provesfor every sheaf . This proves reflectivity. The closure construction is pullback-stable; equivalently, separated quotients and the subsequent dense embeddings commute with the finite limiting comparisons, giving the usual left-exact sheaf reflector.
Finite limits of sheaves are computed in , because unique extensions can be taken componentwise. If is a sheaf, is a sheaf for any , by the same product-with-dense-mono argument. Thus sheaf exponentials are the ambient exponentials. Monos between sheaves have j-closed images: their closure is a sheaf, and the dense inclusion into it splits by the extension property, hence is an isomorphism. Therefore classifies precisely their subobjects. These observations establish is a reflective topos.
Now let classify the given subterminal object. Its open local operator and closed local operator areThe Heyting algebra identities verify all local-operator axioms: implication by fixed preserves meets and is idempotent, while adjoining preserves meets by distributivity and is idempotent.
For a mono in with characteristic predicate , closedness for means , or . Density for means , again . Thus the c(U)-closed monos are exactly the o(U)-dense monos.
Both densities together force and , hence : the only jointly dense monos are isomorphisms. More explicitly, the meet of these operators is pointwise andso .
For their join, every mono factors through the union with the pullback :The first mono is c(U)-dense, because adjoining fills its codomain; the second is o(U)-dense, because its image contains . Any local operator above both must therefore make every mono dense, since its dense monos are closed under composition. It is the largest operator . ConsequentlyThese are the complementary open and closed local operators in the ordered lattice of local operators, with order given by pointwise implication.