Variations of the Shifting Lemma and Goursat categories

Abstract

We prove that Mal'tsev and Goursat categories may be characterised through stronger variations of the Shifting Lemma, that is classically expressed in terms of three congruences $R$, $S$ and $T$, and characterises congruence modular varieties. We first show that a regular category $\mathcal C$ is a Mal'tsev category if and only if the Shifting Lemma holds for reflexive relations on the same object in $\mathcal C$. Moreover, we prove that a regular category $\mathcal C$ is a Goursat category if and only if the Shifting Lemma holds for a reflexive relation $S$ and reflexive and positive relations $R$ and $T$ in $\mathcal C$. In particular this provides a new characterisation of $2$-permutable and $3$-permutable varieties and quasi-varieties of universal algebras.