Monoidal Categories

An introduction to monoidal categories

Monoidal Categories#

Introduction#

From abstract algebra, we are familiar with the notion of many several algebraic structures, such as groups, rings, fields, etc. To study these algebraic structures in the sense of category theory, we need to understand the way these algebraic structures are built on top of each other. To go alongside these definitions, we will sketch the containment hierarchy of these algebraic structures.

Magma#

A magma is a set equipped with a binary operation.

Definition

A magma is an ordered pair (M,)(M, \cdot) where MM is a non-empty set and :M×MM\cdot: M \times M \to M is a binary operation.

Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++ is a magma.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of multiplication ×\times is a magma.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of division ÷\div is not a magma, because division is not a well-defined operation on the set of integers.

Semigroup#

A semigroup is a magma with associativity.

Definition

A semigroup is an ordered pair (S,)(S, \cdot) where SS is a non-empty set and :S×SS\cdot: S \times S \to S is a binary operation satisfying:

  • Associativity: a,b,cS,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in S, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++ is a semigroup.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of multiplication ×\times is a semigroup.

Monoid#

A monoid is a semigroup with an identity element.

Definition

A monoid is an ordered triple (M,,e)(M, \cdot, e) where MM is a non-empty set, :M×MM\cdot: M \times M \to M is a binary operation, and eMe \in M is a distinguished element satisfying:

  • Associativity: a,b,cM,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in M, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
  • Identity element: aM,ea=ae=a\forall a \in M, e \cdot a = a \cdot e = a
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++ and identity element 00 is a monoid.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of multiplication ×\times and identity element 11 is a monoid.

Commutative Monoid#

A commutative monoid is a monoid with commutativity.

Definition

A commutative monoid is an ordered triple (M,,e)(M, \cdot, e) where MM is a non-empty set, :M×MM\cdot: M \times M \to M is a binary operation, and eMe \in M is a distinguished element satisfying:

  • Associativity: a,b,cM,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in M, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
  • Identity element: aM,ea=ae=a\forall a \in M, e \cdot a = a \cdot e = a
  • Commutativity: a,bM,ab=ba\forall a, b \in M, a \cdot b = b \cdot a
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++ and identity element 00 is a commutative monoid.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of multiplication ×\times and identity element 11 is a commutative monoid.

Group#

A group is a monoid with inverses.

Definition

A group is an ordered triple (G,,e)(G, \cdot, e) where GG is a non-empty set, :G×GG\cdot: G \times G \to G is a binary operation, and eGe \in G is a distinguished element satisfying:

  • Associativity: a,b,cG,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in G, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
  • Identity element: aG,ea=ae=a\forall a \in G, e \cdot a = a \cdot e = a
  • Inverse elements: aG,a1G\forall a \in G, \exists a^{-1} \in G such that aa1=a1a=ea \cdot a^{-1} = a^{-1} \cdot a = e
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++, identity element 00, and inverse n-n for any integer nn is a group.
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of multiplication ×\times is not a group, because not every element has a multiplicative inverse in Z\mathbb{Z}.

Abelian Group#

An abelian group is a group with commutativity.

Definition

An abelian group is an ordered triple (G,,e)(G, \cdot, e) where GG is a non-empty set, :G×GG\cdot: G \times G \to G is a binary operation, and eGe \in G is a distinguished element satisfying:

  • Associativity: a,b,cG,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in G, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
  • Identity element: aG,ea=ae=a\forall a \in G, e \cdot a = a \cdot e = a
  • Inverse elements: aG,a1G\forall a \in G, \exists a^{-1} \in G such that aa1=a1a=ea \cdot a^{-1} = a^{-1} \cdot a = e
  • Commutativity: a,bG,ab=ba\forall a, b \in G, a \cdot b = b \cdot a
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with the operation of addition ++, identity element 00, and inverse n-n for any integer nn is an abelian group.
  • The set of non-zero rational numbers Q{0}\mathbb{Q} \setminus \{0\} with multiplication ×\times is an abelian group.

Ring#

A ring is an abelian group with a multiplication operation that is associative and distributes over addition.

Definition

A ring is an ordered quintuple (R,+,,0,1)(R, +, \cdot, 0, 1) where RR is a non-empty set, +:R×RR+: R \times R \to R and :R×RR\cdot: R \times R \to R are binary operations, and 0,1R0, 1 \in R are distinguished elements satisfying:

  • (R,+,0)(R, +, 0) is an abelian group
  • Associativity of multiplication: a,b,cR,(ab)c=a(bc)\forall a, b, c \in R, (a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)
  • Multiplicative identity: aR,1a=a1=a\forall a \in R, 1 \cdot a = a \cdot 1 = a
  • Left distributivity: a,b,cR,a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac)\forall a, b, c \in R, a \cdot (b + c) = (a \cdot b) + (a \cdot c)
  • Right distributivity: a,b,cR,(a+b)c=(ac)+(bc)\forall a, b, c \in R, (a + b) \cdot c = (a \cdot c) + (b \cdot c)
Example
  • The set of integers Z\mathbb{Z} with addition ++, multiplication ×\times, additive identity 00, and multiplicative identity 11 is a ring.

Field#

A field is a commutative ring with a multiplicative inverse for every nonzero element.

Definition

A field is an ordered quintuple (F,+,,0,1)(F, +, \cdot, 0, 1) where FF is a non-empty set, +:F×FF+: F \times F \to F and :F×FF\cdot: F \times F \to F are binary operations, and 0,1F0, 1 \in F are distinguished elements satisfying:

  • (F,+,0)(F, +, 0) is an abelian group
  • (F{0},,1)(F \setminus \{0\}, \cdot, 1) is an abelian group
  • Left distributivity: a,b,cF,a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac)\forall a, b, c \in F, a \cdot (b + c) = (a \cdot b) + (a \cdot c)
  • Right distributivity: a,b,cF,(a+b)c=(ac)+(bc)\forall a, b, c \in F, (a + b) \cdot c = (a \cdot c) + (b \cdot c)
Example
  • The set of rational numbers Q\mathbb{Q} with addition ++, multiplication ×\times, additive identity 00, and multiplicative identity 11 is a field.

Containment Hierarchy of Algebraic Structures#

Magma
Semigroup
Monoid
Group
Abelian Group
Ring
Field
Commutative Monoid

Monoidal Categories#

Examples of Monoidal Categories#