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In mathematics, especially in [[category theory]], a '''subobject classifier''' is a special object Ω of a category such that, intuitively, the [[subobject]]s of any object ''X'' in the category correspond to the morphisms from ''X'' to Ω. In typical examples, that morphism assigns "true" to the elements of the subobject and "false" to the other elements of ''X.'' Therefore, a subobject classifier is also known as a "truth value object" and the concept is widely used in the categorical description of logic. Note however that subobject classifiers are often much more complicated than the simple binary logic truth values {true, false}.

In [[Category theory]] subobject classifier &Omega; is a special [[object]] of a category that has the following property:<br>

for each [[monomorphism]] <i>f: Y -> X</i> there is a classifying morphism <i>g: X -> &Omega;</i> such that the following [[commutative diagram]]:<br>

== Introductory example ==

<i>

<pre>

Y -> 1

| |

v v

X -> &Omega;

</pre>

</i>

As an example, the set Ω = {0,1} is a subobject classifier in the [[category of sets]] and functions: to every subset ''A'' of ''S'' defined by the inclusion function&nbsp;'' j '' : ''A'' → ''S'' we can assign the function ''χ_A'' from ''S'' to Ω that maps precisely the elements of ''A'' to 1, and the elements outside ''A'' to 0 (in other words, ''χ_A'' is the [[indicator function|characteristic function]] of ''A''). Conversely, every function from ''S'' to Ω arises in this fashion from precisely one subset ''A''.

is a [[pullback diagram]] - that is, <i>Y</i> is the limit of the diagram <i>

To be clearer, consider a [[subset]] ''A'' of ''S'' (''A'' ⊆ ''S''), where ''S'' is a set. The notion of being a subset can be expressed mathematically using the so-called characteristic function χ_''A'' : S → {0,1}, which is defined as follows:

:<math>\chi_A(x) =

\begin{cases}

0, & \mbox{if }x\notin A \\

1, & \mbox{if }x\in A

\end{cases}</math>

(Here we interpret 1 as true and 0 as false.) The role of the characteristic function is to determine which elements belong to the subset ''A''. In fact, χ_''A'' is true precisely on the elements of ''A''.

<pre>

1

|

v

g: X -> &Omega;

</pre></i>

In this way, the collection of all subsets of ''S'' and the collection of all maps from ''S'' to Ω = {0,1} are [[isomorphic]].

Here 1 is the [[terminal object]] of the category.

To categorize this notion, recall that, in category theory, a subobject is actually represented by a pair consisting of an object ''A'' and a [[monomorphism|monic arrow]] ''A → S'' (interpreted as the inclusion into another object ''S''). Accordingly, '''true''' refers to the element 1, which is selected by the arrow: '''true''': {0} → {0, 1} that maps 0 to 1. The subset ''A'' of ''S'' can now be defined as the [[pullback (category theory)|pullback]] of '''true''' along the characteristic function χ_''A'', shown on the following diagram:

[[Image:SubobjectClassifier-01.svg|center|frameless|class=skin-invert]]

Defined that way, χ is a morphism ''Sub''_C(''S'') → Hom_C(S, Ω). By definition, Ω is a '''subobject classifier''' if this morphism χ is an isomorphism.

== Definition ==

For the general definition, we start with a category '''C''' that has a [[terminal object]], which we denote by 1. The object Ω of '''C''' is a ''subobject classifier'' for '''C''' if there exists a morphism

:1 → Ω

with the following property:

:For each [[monomorphism]] ''j'': ''U'' → ''X'' there is a unique morphism ''χ_j'': ''X'' → Ω such that the following [[commutative diagram]]

[[Image:SubobjectClassifier-02.svg|center|frameless|class=skin-invert]]

:is a [[pullback diagram]]—that is, ''U'' is the [[limit (category theory)|limit]] of the diagram:

[[Image:SubobjectClassifier-03.svg|center|frameless|class=skin-invert]]

The morphism ''χ_j'' is then called the '''classifying morphism''' for the subobject represented by ''j''.

== Further examples ==

=== Sheaves of sets ===

The category of [[sheaf (mathematics)|sheaves]] of sets on a [[topological space]] ''X'' has a subobject classifier Ω which can be described as follows: For any [[open set]] ''U'' of ''X'', Ω(''U'') is the set of all open subsets of ''U''. The terminal object is the sheaf 1 which assigns the [[Singleton (mathematics)|singleton]] {*} to every open set ''U'' of ''X.'' The morphism η:1 → Ω is given by the family of maps η_''U'' : 1(''U'') → Ω(''U'') defined by η_''U''(*)=''U'' for every open set ''U'' of ''X''. Given a sheaf ''F'' on ''X'' and a sub-sheaf ''j'': ''G'' → ''F'', the classifying morphism ''χ_j'' : ''F'' → Ω is given by the family of maps ''χ_j,U'' : ''F''(''U'') → Ω(''U''), where ''χ_j,U''(''x'') is the union of all open sets ''V'' of ''U'' such that the restriction of ''x'' to ''V'' (in the sense of sheaves) is contained in ''j_V''(''G''(''V'')).

Roughly speaking an assertion inside this topos is variably true or false, and its truth value from the viewpoint of an open subset ''U'' is the open subset of ''U'' where the assertion is true.

=== Presheaves ===

Given a small category <math>C</math>, the category of [[presheaves]] <math>\mathrm{Set}^{C^{op}}</math> (i.e. the [[functor category]] consisting of all contravariant functors from <math>C</math> to <math>\mathrm{Set}</math>) has a subobject classifer given by the functor sending any <math>c \in C</math> to the set of [[Sieve (category theory)|sieves]] on <math>c</math>. The classifying morphisms are constructed quite similarly to the ones in the sheaves-of-sets example above.

=== Elementary topoi ===

Both examples above are subsumed by the following general fact: every [[elementary topos]], defined as a category with finite [[Limit (category theory)|limits]] and [[power object]]s, necessarily has a subobject classifier.<ref>Pedicchio & Tholen (2004) p.8</ref> The two examples above are [[Topos|Grothendieck topoi]], and every Grothendieck topos is an elementary topos.

== Related concepts ==

A [[quasitopos]] has an object that is almost a subobject classifier; it only classifies strong subobjects.

== Notes ==

{{Reflist}}

== References ==

*{{cite book

| last = Artin

| first = Michael

| author-link = Michael Artin |author2=Alexander Grothendieck |author2-link=Alexander Grothendieck |author3=Jean-Louis Verdier |author3-link=Jean-Louis Verdier | title = Séminaire de Géometrie Algébrique IV

| publisher = [[Springer-Verlag]]

| year = 1964

}}

*{{cite book

| last = Barr

| first = Michael

|author2=Charles Wells

| title = Toposes, Triples and Theories

| publisher = [[Springer-Verlag]]

| year = 1985

| isbn = 0-387-96115-1}}

*{{cite book

| last = Bell

| first = John

| title = Toposes and Local Set Theories: an Introduction

| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]

| ___location = Oxford

| year = 1988

}}

*{{cite book

| last = Goldblatt

| first = Robert

| title = Topoi: The Categorial Analysis of Logic

| publisher = [[North-Holland Publishing Company|North-Holland]], Reprinted by Dover Publications, Inc (2006)

| year = 1983

| isbn = 0-444-85207-7

| url = https://historical.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cul.math/docviewer?did=Gold010&id=3}}

*{{cite book

| last = Johnstone

| first = Peter

| title = Sketches of an Elephant: A Topos Theory Compendium

| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]

| ___location = Oxford

| year = 2002

}}

*{{cite book

| last = Johnstone

| first = Peter

| title = Topos Theory

| url = https://archive.org/details/topostheory0000john

| url-access = registration

| publisher = [[Academic Press]]

| year = 1977

| isbn = 0-12-387850-0}}

* {{cite book | last=Mac Lane | first=Saunders | author-link=Saunders Mac Lane | title=[[Categories for the Working Mathematician]] | edition=2nd | series=[[Graduate Texts in Mathematics]] | volume=5 | ___location=New York, NY | publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]] | year=1998 | isbn=0-387-98403-8 | zbl=0906.18001 }}

*{{cite book

| last = Mac Lane

| first = Saunders

| author-link = Saunders Mac Lane

|author2=Ieke Moerdijk

| title = Sheaves in Geometry and Logic: a First Introduction to Topos Theory

| publisher = [[Springer-Verlag]]

| year = 1992

| isbn = 0-387-97710-4}}

*{{cite book

| last = McLarty

| first = Colin

| author-link=Colin McLarty

| title = Elementary Categories, Elementary Toposes

| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]

| ___location = Oxford

| year = 1992

| isbn = 0-19-853392-6}}

* {{cite book | editor1-last=Pedicchio | editor1-first=Maria Cristina|editor1-link=M. Cristina Pedicchio | editor2-last=Tholen | editor2-first=Walter | title=Categorical foundations. Special topics in order, topology, algebra, and sheaf theory | series=Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Its Applications | volume=97 | ___location=Cambridge | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | year=2004 | isbn=0-521-83414-7 | zbl=1034.18001 }}

*{{cite book

| last = Taylor

| first = Paul

| title = Practical Foundations of Mathematics

| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]

| ___location = Cambridge

| year = 1999

| isbn = 0-521-63107-6}}

[[Category:Topos theory]]

[[Category:Objects (category theory)]]