Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 119 5 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be a tiny object of , and let be the initial object of . The representable functor is the terminal functor, since each of its values is a singleton. The exponential adjunction and the Yoneda lemma giveSince is tiny, is itself a left adjoint, so preserves all colimits. Evaluation at also preserves colimits, because they are pointwise in a set-valued functor category. Therefore preserves the coproduct construction.
It also preserves epimorphisms. Indeed, every such epimorphism is a pointwise epimorphism in a functor category, hence the coequalizer of its kernel pair, as can be checked pointwise in sets. A left adjoint preserves that coequalizer and therefore sends it to a regular epimorphism, which is an epimorphism; evaluation at zero preserves surjectivity. Thus is an irreducible projective in a set-valued functor category.
A Cauchy-complete category is one in which every idempotent morphism splits. By the characterization allowed in the question, irreducible projectives are representable functors for such an indexing category. Applying it to proves the tiny covariant functor on a Cauchy-complete category with an initial object is representable conclusion: