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Groupoid object

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In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a groupoid object is both a generalization of a groupoid which is built on richer structures than sets, and a generalization of a group objects when the multiplication is only partially defined.

Definition[edit]

A groupoid object in a category C admitting finite fiber products consists of a pair of objects together with five morphisms

satisfying the following groupoid axioms

  1. where the are the two projections,
  2. (associativity)
  3. (unit)
  4. (inverse) , , .[1]

Examples[edit]

Group objects[edit]

A group object is a special case of a groupoid object, where and . One recovers therefore topological groups by taking the category of topological spaces, or Lie groups by taking the category of manifolds, etc.

Groupoids[edit]

A groupoid object in the category of sets is precisely a groupoid in the usual sense: a category in which every morphism is an isomorphism. Indeed, given such a category C, take U to be the set of all objects in C, R the set of all arrows in C, the five morphisms given by , , and . When the term "groupoid" can naturally refer to a groupoid object in some particular category in mind, the term groupoid set is used to refer to a groupoid object in the category of sets.

However, unlike in the previous example with Lie groups, a groupoid object in the category of manifolds is not necessarily a Lie groupoid, since the maps s and t fail to satisfy further requirements (they are not necessarily submersions).

Groupoid schemes[edit]

A groupoid S-scheme is a groupoid object in the category of schemes over some fixed base scheme S. If , then a groupoid scheme (where are necessarily the structure map) is the same as a group scheme. A groupoid scheme is also called an algebraic groupoid,[2] to convey the idea it is a generalization of algebraic groups and their actions.

For example, suppose an algebraic group G acts from the right on a scheme U. Then take , s the projection, t the given action. This determines a groupoid scheme.

Constructions[edit]

Given a groupoid object (R, U), the equalizer of , if any, is a group object called the inertia group of the groupoid. The coequalizer of the same diagram, if any, is the quotient of the groupoid.

Each groupoid object in a category C (if any) may be thought of as a contravariant functor from C to the category of groupoids. This way, each groupoid object determines a prestack in groupoids. This prestack is not a stack but it can be stackified to yield a stack.

The main use of the notion is that it provides an atlas for a stack. More specifically, let be the category of -torsors. Then it is a category fibered in groupoids; in fact, (in a nice case), a Deligne–Mumford stack. Conversely, any DM stack is of this form.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Algebraic stacks, Ch 3. § 1.
  2. ^ (Gillet 1984)

References[edit]

  • Behrend, Kai; Conrad, Brian; Edidin, Dan; Fulton, William; Fantechi, Barbara; Göttsche, Lothar; Kresch, Andrew (2006), Algebraic stacks, archived from the original on 2008-05-05, retrieved 2014-02-11
  • Gillet, H. (1984), "Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and Q-varieties" (PDF), Proceedings of the Luminy conference on algebraic K-theory (Luminy, 1983), J. Pure Appl. Algebra, vol. 34, pp. 193–240