Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 25 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Suppose every component is a monomorphism in the Category of sets, hence an injective function. If are natural transformations with , then at every object. Componentwise cancellation gives , so . Thus is a monomorphism in the functor category.
Conversely, suppose is a monomorphism and satisfy . The Yoneda lemma supplies natural transformations . Its naturality in identifies and with the equal elements and . Cancellation by gives ; evaluating at gives . Therefore a natural transformation is a monomorphism exactly when all its components are injective functions. This is the pointwise monomorphism in a set-valued functor category criterion.