A Categorical Approach to L-Convexity

Abstract

We investigate an enriched-categorical approach to a field of discrete mathematics. The main result is a duality theorem between a class of enriched categories (called $\overline{\mathbb{Z}}$- or $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$-categories) and that of what we call ($\overline{\mathbb{Z}}$- or $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$-) extended L-convex sets. We introduce extended L-convex sets as variants of certain discrete structures called L-convex sets and L-convex polyhedra, studied in the field of discrete convex analysis. We also introduce homomorphisms between extended L-convex sets. The theorem claims that there is a one to one correspondence (up to isomorphism) between two classes. The thesis also contains an introductory chapter on enriched categories and no categorical knowledge is assumed.