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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-09-01
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Local cartesian closure is equivalent to every pullback functor having a right adjoint

Statement

Let C be a category with chosen pullback functors. Then the following are equivalent.

  1. C is locally cartesian closed.
  2. For every morphism f:X→Y, the pullback functor f∗:C/Y→C/X has a right adjoint.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A category C with chosen pullback functors.

[L1]

Local cartesian closedness means that every slice category is cartesian closed (Locally cartesian closed category).

[L2]

For each f:X→Y, the functors Σf and f∗ between slice categories are the postcomposition and pullback functors (Slice categories, composition, and pullback along a morphism).

[L3]

Every slice of a locally cartesian closed category is locally cartesian closed, and every locally cartesian closed category has pullbacks (Slices of a locally cartesian closed category are locally cartesian closed, A locally cartesian closed category has pullbacks, and with a terminal object it has all finite limits).

Proof

technique · iff
1.1assume-hypL1L2L3constructalgebra

Assume condition (1), fix f:X→Y, and put K=C/Y. For an object a:A→X of C/X, regard a as a morphism Σfa→f in K. By [L1] and [L3], the category K is cartesian closed and has pullbacks. Form in K the pullback Πf(a):=(Σfa)f×ff1, where (Σfa)f→ff is induced by a and 1→ff is the transpose of 1f:f→f. For B→Y, currying identifies a map B→(Σfa)f with a map h:B×YX→A over Y; the pullback equation defining Πf(a) says exactly that ah is the projection B×YX→X. Hence (C/Y)(B,Πf(a))≅(C/X)(f∗B,a) naturally in B and a. Thus f∗ has right adjoint Πf.

1.2assume-hypL1L2constructalgebra

Assume condition (2), and fix an object X. Chosen pullbacks give binary products in C/X, and 1X:X→X is terminal there. For a:A→X, the pullback universal property gives Σa⊣a∗, while condition (2) gives a∗⊣Πa. The product functor with a on C/X is the composite −×Xa=Σaa∗. Consequently it has right adjoint Πaa∗. Since this holds for every a, the slice C/X is cartesian closed.

2.1step 1.1step 1.2L1∎

Step 1.1 proves that condition (1) implies condition (2). Step 1.2 proves that each slice C/X is cartesian closed, so condition (2) implies condition (1). Therefore the two conditions are equivalent.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources