arXiv subjects

Michael Shulman

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Shulman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Doubly weak double categories

We propose a definition of double categories whose composition of 1-cells is weak in both directions. Namely, a doubly weak double category is a double computad -- a structure with 2-cells of all possible double-categorical shapes -- equipped with all possible composition operations, coherently. We also characterize them using "implicit" double categories, which are double computads having all possible compositions of 2-cells, but no compositions of 1-cells; doubly weak double categories are then obtained by a simple representability criterion. Finally, they can also be defined by adding a "tidiness" condition to the double bicategories of Verity, or to the cubical bicategories of Garner.

math.CT↗

arXiv2023

Displayed Type Theory and Semi-Simplicial Types

We introduce Displayed Type Theory (dTT), a multi-modal homotopy type theory with discrete and simplicial modes. In the intended semantics, the discrete mode is interpreted by a model for an arbitrary $\infty$-topos, while the simplicial mode is interpreted by Reedy fibrant augmented semi-simplicial diagrams in that model. This simplicial structure is represented inside the theory by a primitive notion of display or dependency, guarded by modalities, yielding a partially-internal form of unary parametricity. Using the display primitive, we then give a coinductive definition, at the simplicial mode, of a type $\mathsf{SST}$ of semi-simplicial types. Roughly speaking, a semi-simplicial type $X$ consists of a type $X_0$ together with, for each $x:X_0$, a displayed semi-simplicial type over $X$. This mimics how simplices can be generated geometrically through repeated cones, and is made possible by the display primitive at the simplicial mode. The discrete part of $\mathsf{SST}$ then yields the usual infinite indexed definition of semi-simplicial types, both semantically and syntactically. Thus, dTT enables working with semi-simplicial types in full semantic generality.

math.CT↗

arXiv2023

Internal parametricity, without an interval

Parametricity is a property of the syntax of type theory implying, e.g., that there is only one function having the type of the polymorphic identity function. Parametricity is usually proven externally, and does not hold internally. Internalising it is difficult because once there is a term witnessing parametricity, it also has to be parametric itself and this results in the appearance of higher dimensional cubes. In previous theories with internal parametricity, either an explicit syntax for higher cubes is present or the theory is extended with a new sort for the interval. In this paper we present a type theory with internal parametricity which is a simple extension of Martin-L\"of type theory: there are a few new type formers, term formers and equations. Geometry is not explicit in this syntax, but emergent: the new operations and equations only refer to objects up to dimension 3. We show that this theory is modelled by presheaves over the BCH cube category. Fibrancy conditions are not needed because we use span-based rather than relational parametricity. We define a gluing model for this theory implying that external parametricity and canonicity hold. The theory can be seen as a special case of a new kind of modal type theory, and it is the simplest setting in which the computational properties of higher observational type theory can be demonstrated.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2023

Semantics of multimodal adjoint type theory

We show that contrary to appearances, Multimodal Type Theory (MTT) over a 2-category M can be interpreted in any M-shaped diagram of categories having, and functors preserving, M-sized limits, without the need for extra left adjoints. This is achieved by a construction called "co-dextrification" that co-freely adds left adjoints to any such diagram, which can then be used to interpret the "context lock" functors of MTT. Furthermore, if any of the functors in the diagram have right adjoints, these can also be internalized in type theory as negative modalities in the style of FitchTT. We introduce the name Multimodal Adjoint Type Theory (MATT) for the resulting combined general modal type theory. In particular, we can interpret MATT in any finite diagram of toposes and geometric morphisms, with positive modalities for inverse image functors and negative modalities for direct image functors.

math.CT↗

arXiv2022

Strict universes for Grothendieck topoi

Hofmann and Streicher famously showed how to lift Grothendieck universes into presheaf topoi, and Streicher has extended their result to the case of sheaf topoi by sheafification. In parallel, van den Berg and Moerdijk have shown in the context of algebraic set theory that similar constructions continue to apply even in weaker metatheories. Unfortunately, sheafification seems not to preserve an important realignment property enjoyed by the presheaf universes that plays a critical role in models of univalent type theory as well as synthetic Tait computability, a recent technique to establish syntactic properties of type theories and programming languages. In the context of multiple universes, the realignment property also implies a coherent choice of codes for connectives at each universe level, thereby interpreting the cumulativity laws present in popular formulations of Martin-L\"of type theory. We observe that a slight adjustment to an argument of Shulman constructs a cumulative universe hierarchy satisfying the realignment property at every level in any Grothendieck topos. Hence one has direct-style interpretations of Martin-L\"of type theory with cumulative universes into all Grothendieck topoi. A further implication is to extend the reach of recent synthetic methods in the semantics of cubical type theory and the syntactic metatheory of type theory and programming languages to all Grothendieck topoi.

math.CT↗

arXiv2022

The directed plump ordering

Based on Taylor's hereditarily directed plump ordinals, we define the directed plump ordering on W-types in Martin-L\"of type theory. This ordering is similar to the plump ordering but comes equipped with non-empty finite joins in addition to the usual properties of the plump ordering.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2021

LNL polycategories and doctrines of linear logic

We define and study LNL polycategories, which abstract the judgmental structure of classical linear logic with exponentials. Many existing structures can be represented as LNL polycategories, including LNL adjunctions, linear exponential comonads, LNL multicategories, IL-indexed categories, linearly distributive categories with storage, commutative and strong monads, CBPV-structures, models of polarized calculi, Freyd-categories, and skew multicategories, as well as ordinary cartesian, symmetric, and planar multicategories and monoidal categories, symmetric polycategories, and linearly distributive and *-autonomous categories. To study such classes of structures uniformly, we define a notion of LNL doctrine, such that each of these classes of structures can be identified with the algebras for some such doctrine. We show that free algebras for LNL doctrines can be presented by a sequent calculus, and that every morphism of doctrines induces an adjunction between their 2-categories of algebras.

math.CT↗

arXiv2021

The derivator of setoids

Without the axiom of choice, the free exact completion of the category of sets (i.e. the category of setoids) may not be complete or cocomplete. We will show that nevertheless, it can be enhanced to a derivator: the formal structure of categories of diagrams related by Kan extension functors. Moreover, this derivator is the free cocompletion of a point in a class of "1-truncated derivators" (which behave like a 1-category rather than a higher category). In classical mathematics, the free cocompletion of a point relative to all derivators is the homotopy theory of spaces. Thus, if there is a homotopy theory that can be shown to have this universal property constructively, its 1-truncation must contain not only sets, but also setoids. This suggests that either setoids are an unavoidable aspect of constructive homotopy theory, or more radical modifications to the notion of homotopy theory are needed.

math.CT↗

arXiv2021

The Univalence Principle

The Univalence Principle is the statement that equivalent mathematical structures are indistinguishable. We prove a general version of this principle that applies to all set-based, categorical, and higher-categorical structures defined in a non-algebraic and space-based style, as well as models of higher-order theories such as topological spaces. In particular, we formulate a general definition of indiscernibility for objects of any such structure, and a corresponding univalence condition that generalizes Rezk's completeness condition for Segal spaces and ensures that all equivalences of structures are levelwise equivalences. Our work builds on Makkai's First-Order Logic with Dependent Sorts, but is expressed in Voevodsky's Univalent Foundations (UF), extending previous work on the Structure Identity Principle and univalent categories in UF. This enables indistinguishability to be expressed simply as identification, and yields a formal theory that is interpretable in classical homotopy theory, but also in other higher topos models. It follows that Univalent Foundations is a fully equivalence-invariant foundation for higher-categorical mathematics, as intended by Voevodsky.

math.CT↗

arXiv2021

Categories of Nets

We present a unified framework for Petri nets and various variants, such as pre-nets and Kock's whole-grain Petri nets. Our framework is based on a less well-studied notion that we call $\Sigma$-nets, which allow finer control over whether tokens are treated using the collective or individual token philosophy. We describe three forms of execution semantics in which pre-nets generate strict monoidal categories, $\Sigma$-nets (including whole-grain Petri nets) generate symmetric strict monoidal categories, and Petri nets generate commutative monoidal categories, all by left adjoint functors. We also construct adjunctions relating these categories of nets to each other, in particular showing that all kinds of net can be embedded in the unifying category of $\Sigma$-nets, in a way that commutes coherently with their execution semantics.

math.CT↗

arXiv2020

Construction of the Circle in UniMath

We show that the type $\mathrm{T}\mathbb{Z}$ of $\mathbb{Z}$-torsors has the dependent universal property of the circle, which characterizes it up to a unique homotopy equivalence. The construction uses Voevodsky's Univalence Axiom and propositional truncation, yielding a stand-alone construction of the circle not using higher inductive types.

math.LO↗

arXiv2020

A Higher Structure Identity Principle

The ordinary Structure Identity Principle states that any property of set-level structures (e.g., posets, groups, rings, fields) definable in Univalent Foundations is invariant under isomorphism: more specifically, identifications of structures coincide with isomorphisms. We prove a version of this principle for a wide range of higher-categorical structures, adapting FOLDS-signatures to specify a general class of structures, and using two-level type theory to treat all categorical dimensions uniformly. As in the previously known case of 1-categories (which is an instance of our theory), the structures themselves must satisfy a local univalence principle, stating that identifications coincide with "isomorphisms" between elements of the structure. Our main technical achievement is a definition of such isomorphisms, which we call "indiscernibilities", using only the dependency structure rather than any notion of composition.

math.LO↗

arXiv2020

*-Autonomous Envelopes and Conservativity

We prove 2-categorical conservativity for any {0,T}-free fragment of MALL over its corresponding intuitionistic version: that is, that the universal map from a closed symmetric monoidal category to the *-autonomous category that it freely generates is fully faithful, and similarly for other doctrines. This implies that linear logics and graphical calculi for *-autonomous categories can also be interpreted canonically in closed symmetric monoidal categories. In particular, every closed symmetric monoidal category can be fully embedded in a *-autonomous category, preserving both tensor products and internal-homs. In fact, we prove this directly first with a Yoneda-style embedding (an enhanced "Hyland envelope" that can be regarded as a polycategorical form of Day convolution), and deduce 2-conservativity afterwards from Hyland-Schalk double gluing and a technique of Lafont. The same is true for other fragments of *-autonomous structure, such as linear distributivity, and the embedding can be enhanced to preserve any desired family of nonempty limits and colimits.

math.CT↗

arXiv2020

The 2-Chu-Dialectica construction and the polycategory of multivariable adjunctions

Cheng, Gurski, and Riehl constructed a cyclic double multicategory of multivariable adjunctions. We show that the same information is carried by a double polycategory, in which opposite categories are polycategorical duals. Moreover, this double polycategory is a full substructure of a double Chu construction, whose objects are a sort of polarized category, and which is a natural home for 2-categorical dualities. We obtain the double Chu construction using a general "Chu-Dialectica" construction on polycategories, which includes both the Chu construction and the categorical Dialectica construction of de Paiva. The Chu and Dialectica constructions each impose additional hypotheses making the resulting polycategory representable (hence *-autonomous), but for different reasons; this leads to their apparent differences.

math.CT↗

arXiv2019

Constructing symmetric monoidal bicategories functorially

We present a method of constructing monoidal, braided monoidal, and symmetric monoidal bicategories from corresponding types of monoidal double categories that satisfy a lifting condition. Many important monoidal bicategories arise naturally in this way, and applying our general method is much easier than explicitly verifying the coherence laws of a monoidal bicategory for each example. Abstracting from earlier work in this direction, we express the construction as a functor between locally cubical bicategories that preserves monoid objects; this ensures that it also preserves monoidal functors, transformations, adjunctions, and so on. Examples include the monoidal bicategories of algebras and bimodules, categories and profunctors, sets and spans, open Markov processes, parametrized spectra, and various functors relating them.

math.CT↗

arXiv2019

A practical type theory for symmetric monoidal categories

We give a natural-deduction-style type theory for symmetric monoidal categories whose judgmental structure directly represents morphisms with tensor products in their codomain as well as their domain. The syntax is inspired by Sweedler notation for coalgebras, with variables associated to types in the domain and terms associated to types in the codomain, allowing types to be treated informally like "sets with elements" subject to global linearity-like restrictions. We illustrate the usefulness of this type theory with various applications to duality, traces, Frobenius monoids, and (weak) Hopf monoids.

math.CT↗

arXiv2019

All $(\infty,1)$-toposes have strict univalent universes

We prove the conjecture that any Grothendieck $(\infty,1)$-topos can be presented by a Quillen model category that interprets homotopy type theory with strict univalent universes. Thus, homotopy type theory can be used as a formal language for reasoning internally to $(\infty,1)$-toposes, just as higher-order logic is used for 1-toposes. As part of the proof, we give a new, more explicit, characterization of the fibrations in injective model structures on presheaf categories. In particular, we show that they generalize the coflexible algebras of 2-monad theory.

math.AT↗

arXiv2018

Comparing material and structural set theories

We study elementary theories of well-pointed toposes and pretoposes, regarded as category-theoretic or "structural" set theories in the spirit of Lawvere's "Elementary Theory of the Category of Sets". We consider weak intuitionistic and predicative theories of pretoposes, and we also propose category-theoretic versions of stronger axioms such as unbounded separation, replacement, and collection. Finally, we compare all of these theories formally to traditional membership-based or "material" set theories, using a version of the classical construction based on internal well-founded relations.

math.LO↗