Monoid (category theory) explained

In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a monoid (or monoid object, or internal monoid, or algebra) in a monoidal category is an object M together with two morphisms

such that the pentagon diagram

and the unitor diagram

commute. In the above notation, 1 is the identity morphism of M, I is the unit element and α, λ and ρ are respectively the associativity, the left identity and the right identity of the monoidal category C.

Dually, a comonoid in a monoidal category C is a monoid in the dual category Cop.

Suppose that the monoidal category C has a symmetry γ. A monoid M in C is commutative when .

Examples

Categories of monoids

Given two monoids and in a monoidal category C, a morphism is a morphism of monoids when

In other words, the following diagrams

,

commute.

The category of monoids in C and their monoid morphisms is written MonC.[1]

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Section VII.3 in Book: Mac Lane. Saunders. Categories for the working mathematician. 1988. Springer-Verlag. New York. 0-387-90035-7. 4th corr. print..