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Assuming Choice, a small category with products or coproducts indexed by the cardinality of its morphism set is a preorder
Statement
Assume Choice. Let be small and put . If every constant -indexed family has a product, then is a preorder. The same conclusion follows if every constant -indexed family has a coproduct.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: The small category, its morphism cardinal , and one of the two product or coproduct hypotheses.
A product represents every family of arrows into its factors (Products and coproducts as limits and colimits of discrete diagrams, including their existence-and-uniqueness equations).
The cardinality of a small category is the cardinality of its morphism set (Assuming Choice, cardinality of a small category and κ-small diagrams).
Cantor's theorem gives (Assuming the Axiom of Choice, , and Cantor's theorem in cardinal form: ).
A preorder is reflexive and transitive, and its associated category has at most one arrow between any two objects (Preorder and monotone map, A preorder is a category with at most one morphism between any two objects, and its functors are exactly monotone maps).
Products and coproducts are formal duals (A limiting cone for a diagram is exactly a colimiting cocone for the formally dual diagram in the opposite category).
Proof
Suppose distinct parallel arrows exist, and let be a product of the constant -family. For each subset , [F1] gives a unique whose th projection is when and when .
If , choose in their symmetric difference. The th composites of and are and in some order, so . Thus injects into .
By [F2], the codomain has cardinality , whereas [L1] says the domain has strictly larger cardinality. This contradiction proves that no distinct parallel arrows exist. Identities and composition already make the object relation reflexive and transitive, so [F3] makes a preorder.
Apply [L2] to . Its morphism set has the same cardinality, a -indexed coproduct in is a product there, and being a preorder is unchanged by reversal. This proves the coproduct clause.
Depends on
- Products and coproducts as limits and colimits of discrete diagrams, including their existence-and-uniqueness equations
- Assuming Choice, cardinality of a small category and κ-small diagrams
- Assuming the Axiom of Choice, $2^{\kappa} = \lvert \mathcal{P}(\kappa) \rvert$, and Cantor's theorem in cardinal form: $\kappa < 2^{\kappa}$
- Preorder and monotone map
- A preorder is a category with at most one morphism between any two objects, and its functors are exactly monotone maps
- A limiting cone for a diagram is exactly a colimiting cocone for the formally dual diagram in the opposite category
Used by
Dependency tree · next 3 levels
Direct dependencies and their dependencies through the next three levels: 53 results over 14 levels. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, and this result sits at the bottom with a heavier outline. Click the chart to enlarge it.
Sources
- E. Riehl, Category Theory in Context, Proposition 3.7.3 (standard reference, not scraped)