arXiv subjects

Dominic Verity

Publications and source records attributed to Dominic Verity.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Cartesian exponentiation and monadicity

An important result in quasi-category theory due to Lurie is the that cocartesian fibrations are exponentiable, in the sense that pullback along a cocartesian fibration admits a right Quillen right adjoint that moreover preserves cartesian fibrations; the same is true with the cartesian and cocartesian fibrations interchanged. To explicate this classical result, we prove that the pullback along a cocartesian fibration between quasi-categories forms the oplax colimit of its "straightening," a homotopy coherent diagram valued in quasi-categories, recovering a result first observed by Gepner, Haugseng, and Nikolaus. As an application of the exponentiation operation of a cartesian fibration by a cocartesian one, we use the Yoneda lemma to construct left and right adjoints to the forgetful functor that carries a cartesian fibration over B to its obB-indexed family of fibers, and prove that this forgetful functor is monadic and comonadic. This monadicity is then applied to construct the reflection of a cartesian fibration into a groupoidal cartesian fibration, whose fibers are Kan complexes rather than quasi-categories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2020

Gray tensor product and saturated $N$-complicial sets

We show that the pretensor and tensor products of simplicial sets with marking are compatible with the homotopy theory of saturated $N$-complicial sets (which are a proposed model of $(\infty,N)$-categories), in the form of a Quillen bifunctor and a homotopical bifunctor, respectively.

math.AT↗

arXiv2018

Recognizing quasi-categorical limits and colimits in homotopy coherent nerves

In this paper we prove that various quasi-categories whose objects are $\infty$-categories in a very general sense are complete: admitting limits indexed by all simplicial sets. This result and others of a similar flavor follow from a general theorem in which we characterize the data that is required to define a limit cone in a quasi-category constructed as a homotopy coherent nerve. Since all quasi-categories arise this way up to equivalence, this analysis covers the general case. Namely, we show that quasi-categorical limit cones may be modeled at the point-set level by pseudo homotopy limit cones, whose shape is governed by the weight for pseudo limits over a homotopy coherent diagram but with the defining universal property up to equivalence, rather than isomorphism, of mapping spaces. Our applications follow from the fact that the $(\infty,1)$-categorical core of an $\infty$-cosmos admits weighted homotopy limits for all flexible weights, which includes in particular the weight for pseudo cones.

math.CT↗

arXiv2018

On the construction of limits and colimits in $\infty$-categories

In previous work, we introduce an axiomatic framework within which to prove theorems about many varieties of infinite-dimensional categories simultaneously. In this paper, we establish criteria implying that an $\infty$-category - for instance, a quasi-category, a complete Segal space, or a Segal category - is complete and cocomplete, admitting limits and colimits indexed by any small simplicial set. Our strategy is to build (co)limits of diagrams indexed by a simplicial set inductively from (co)limits of restricted diagrams indexed by the pieces of its skeletal filtration. We show directly that the modules that express the universal properties of (co)limits of diagrams of these shapes are reconstructable as limits of the modules that express the universal properties of (co)limits of the restricted diagrams. We also prove that the Yoneda embedding preserves and reflects limits in a suitable sense, and deduce our main theorems as a consequence.

math.CT↗

arXiv2017

The comprehension construction

In this paper we construct an analogue of Lurie's "unstraightening" construction that we refer to as the "comprehension construction". Its input is a cocartesian fibration $p \colon E \to B$ between $\infty$-categories together with a third $\infty$-category $A$. The comprehension construction then defines a map from the quasi-category of functors from $A$ to $B$ to the large quasi-category of cocartesian fibrations over $A$ that acts on $f \colon A \to B$ by forming the pullback of $p$ along $f$. To illustrate the versatility of this construction, we define the covariant and contravariant Yoneda embeddings as special cases of the comprehension functor. We then prove that the hom-wise action of the comprehension functor coincides with an "external action" of the hom-spaces of $B$ on the fibres of $p$ and use this to prove that the Yoneda embedding is fully faithful, providing an explicit equivalence between a quasi-category and the homotopy coherent nerve of a Kan-complex enriched category.

math.CT↗

arXiv2016

Infinity category theory from scratch

We use the terms "$\infty$-categories" and "$\infty$-functors" to mean the objects and morphisms in an "$\infty$-cosmos." Quasi-categories, Segal categories, complete Segal spaces, naturally marked simplicial sets, iterated complete Segal spaces, $\theta_n$-spaces, and fibered versions of each of these are all $\infty$-categories in this sense. We show that the basic category theory of $\infty$-categories and $\infty$-functors can be developed from the axioms of an $\infty$-cosmos; indeed, most of the work is internal to a strict 2-category of $\infty$-categories, $\infty$-functors, and natural transformations. In the $\infty$-cosmos of quasi-categories, we recapture precisely the same theory developed by Joyal and Lurie, although in most cases our definitions, which are 2-categorical rather than combinatorial in nature, present a new incarnation of the standard concepts. In the first lecture, we define an $\infty$-cosmos and introduce its "homotopy 2-category," using formal category theory to define and study equivalences and adjunctions between $\infty$-categories. In the second lecture, we study (co)limits of diagrams taking values in an $\infty$-category and the relationship between (co)limits and adjunctions. In the third lecture, we introduce comma $\infty$-categories, which are used to encode the universal properties of (co)limits and adjointness and prove "model independence" results. In the fourth lecture, we introduce (co)cartesian fibrations, describe the calculus of "modules" between $\infty$-categories, and use this framework to prove the Yoneda lemma and develop the theory of pointwise Kan extensions of $\infty$-functors.

math.CT↗

arXiv2016

Fibrations and Yoneda's lemma in an $\infty$-cosmos

We use the terms $\infty$-categories and $\infty$-functors to mean the objects and morphisms in an $\infty$-cosmos: a simplicially enriched category satisfying a few axioms, reminiscent of an enriched category of fibrant objects. Quasi-categories, Segal categories, complete Segal spaces, marked simplicial sets, iterated complete Segal spaces, $θ_n$-spaces, and fibered versions of each of these are all $\infty$-categories in this sense. Previous work in this series shows that the basic category theory of $\infty$-categories and $\infty$-functors can be developed only in reference to the axioms of an $\infty$-cosmos; indeed, most of the work is internal to the homotopy 2-category, a strict 2-category of $\infty$-categories, $\infty$-functors, and natural transformations. In the $\infty$-cosmos of quasi-categories, we recapture precisely the same category theory developed by Joyal and Lurie, although our definitions are 2-categorical in natural, making no use of the combinatorial details that differentiate each model. In this paper, we introduce cartesian fibrations, a certain class of $\infty$-functors, and their groupoidal variants. Cartesian fibrations form a cornerstone in the abstract treatment of "category-like" structures a la Street and play an important role in Lurie's work on quasi-categories. After setting up their basic theory, we state and prove the Yoneda lemma, which has the form of an equivalence between the quasi-category of maps out of a representable fibration and the quasi-category underlying the fiber over its representing element. A companion paper will apply these results to establish a calculus of modules between $\infty$-categories, which will be used to define and study pointwise Kan extensions along $\infty$-functors.

math.CT↗

arXiv2015

Homotopy coherent adjunctions and the formal theory of monads

In this paper, we introduce a cofibrant simplicial category that we call the free homotopy coherent adjunction and characterize its n-arrows using a graphical calculus that we develop here. The hom-spaces are appropriately fibrant, indeed are nerves of categories, which indicates that all of the expected coherence equations in each dimension are present. To justify our terminology, we prove that any adjunction of quasi-categories extends to a homotopy coherent adjunction and furthermore that these extensions are homotopically unique in the sense that the relevant spaces of extensions are contractible Kan complexes. We extract several simplicial functors from the free homotopy coherent adjunction and show that quasi-categories are closed under weighted limits with these weights. These weighted limits are used to define the homotopy coherent monadic adjunction associated to a homotopy coherent monad. We show that each vertex in the quasi-category of algebras for a homotopy coherent monad is a codescent object of a canonical diagram of free algebras. To conclude, we prove the quasi-categorical monadicity theorem, describing conditions under which the canonical comparison functor from a homotopy coherent adjunction to the associated monadic adjunction is an equivalence of quasi-categories. Our proofs reveal that a mild variant of Beck's argument is "all in the weights" - much of it independent of the quasi-categorical context.

math.CT↗

arXiv2015

Kan extensions and the calculus of modules for $\infty$-categories

Various models of $(\infty,1)$-categories, including quasi-categories, complete Segal spaces, Segal categories, and naturally marked simplicial sets can be considered as the objects of an $\infty$-cosmos. In a generic $\infty$-cosmos, whose objects we call $\infty$-categories, we introduce modules (also called profunctors or correspondences) between $\infty$-categories, incarnated as as spans of suitably-defined fibrations with groupoidal fibers. As the name suggests, a module from $A$ to $B$ is an $\infty$-category equipped with a left action of $A$ and a right action of $B$, in a suitable sense. Applying the fibrational form of the Yoneda lemma, we develop a general calculus of modules, proving that they naturally assemble into a multicategory-like structure called a virtual equipment, which is known to be a robust setting in which to develop formal category theory. Using the calculus of modules, it is straightforward to define and study pointwise Kan extensions, which we relate, in the case of cartesian closed $\infty$-cosmoi, to limits and colimits of diagrams valued in an $\infty$-category, as introduced in previous work.

math.CT↗

arXiv2015

The 2-category theory of quasi-categories

In this paper we redevelop the foundations of the category theory of quasi-categories (also called infinity-categories) using 2-category theory. We show that Joyal's strict 2-category of quasi-categories admits certain weak 2-limits, among them weak comma objects. We use these comma quasi-categories to encode universal properties relevant to limits, colimits, and adjunctions and prove the expected theorems relating these notions. These universal properties have an alternate form as absolute lifting diagrams in the 2-category, which we show are determined pointwise by the existence of certain initial or terminal vertices, allowing for the easy production of examples. All the quasi-categorical notions introduced here are equivalent to the established ones but our proofs are independent and more "formal". In particular, these results generalise immediately to model categories enriched over quasi-categories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2015

Completeness results for quasi-categories of algebras, homotopy limits, and related general constructions

Consider a diagram of quasi-categories that admit and functors that preserve limits or colimits of a fixed shape. We show that any weighted limit whose weight is a projective cofibrant simplicial functor is again a quasi-category admitting these (co)limits and that they are preserved by the functors in the limit cone. In particular, the Bousfield-Kan homotopy limit of a diagram of quasi-categories admit any limits or colimits existing in and preserved by the functors in that diagram. In previous work, we demonstrated that the quasi-category of algebras for a homotopy coherent monad could be described as a weighted limit with projective cofibrant weight, so these results immediately provide us with important (co)completeness results for quasi-categories of algebras. These generalise most of the classical categorical results, except for a well known theorem which shows that limits lift to the category of algebras for any monad, regardless of whether its functor part preserves those limits. The second half of this paper establishes this more general result in the quasi-categorical setting: showing that the monadic forgetful functor of the quasi-category of algebras for a homotopy coherent monad creates all limits that exist in the base quasi-category, without further assumption on the monad. This proof relies upon a more delicate and explicit analysis of the particular weight used to define quasi-categories of algebras.

math.CT↗

arXiv2014

The theory and practice of Reedy categories

The goal of this paper is to demystify the role played by the Reedy category axioms in homotopy theory. With no assumed prerequisites beyond a healthy appetite for category theoretic arguments, we present streamlined proofs of a number of useful technical results, which are well known to folklore but difficult to find in the literature. While the results presented here are not new, our approach to their proofs is somewhat novel. Specifically, we reduce the much of the hard work involved to simpler computations involving weighted colimits and Leibniz (pushout-product) constructions. The general theory is developed in parallel with examples, which we use to prove that familiar formulae for homotopy limits and colimits indeed have the desired properties.

math.CT↗

arXiv2006

Weak complicial sets, a simplicial weak omega-category theory. Part I: basic homotopy theory

This paper develops the foundations of a simplicial theory of weak omega-categories, which builds upon the insights originally expounded by Ross Street in his 1987 paper on oriented simplices. The resulting theory of weak complicial sets provides a common generalisation of the theories of (strict) omega-categories, Kan complexes and Joyal's quasi-categories. We generalise a number of results due to the current author with regard to complicial sets and strict omega-categories to provide an armoury of well behaved technical devices, such as joins and Gray tensor products, which will be used to study these the weak omega-category theory of these structures in a series of companion papers. In particular, we establish their basic homotopy theory by constructing a Quillen model structure on the category of stratified simplicial sets whose fibrant objects are the weak complicial sets. As a simple corollary of this work we provide an independent construction of Joyal's model structure on simplicial sets for which the fibrant objects are the quasi-categories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2006

Weak complicial sets, a simplicial weak omega-category theory. Part II: nerves of complicial Gray-categories

This paper continues the development of a simplicial theory of weak omega-categories, by studying categories which are enriched in weak complicial sets. These complicial Gray-categories generalise both the Kan complex enriched categories of homotopy theory and the Gray-categories of weak 3-category theory. We derive a simplicial nerve construction, which is closely related to Cordier and Porter's homotopy coherent nerve, and show that this faithfully represents complicial Gray-categories as weak complicial sets. The category of weak complicial sets may itself be canonically enriched to a complicial Gray-category whose homsets are higher generalisations of the bicategory of homomorphisms, strong transformations and modifications. By applying our nerve construction to this structure, we demonstrate that the totality of all (small) weak complicial sets and their structural morphisms at higher dimensions form a richly structured (large) weak complicial set.

math.CT↗

arXiv2005

Complicial Sets

The primary purpose of this work is to characterise strict ω-categories as simplicial sets with structure. We prove the Street-Roberts conjecture which states that they are exactly the ``complicial sets'' defined and named by John Roberts in his handwritten notes of that title.

math.CT↗