Filtered category

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In category theory, filtered categories generalize the notion of directed set.

A category J is filtered when

  • it is not empty,
  • for every two objects j and j' in J there exists an object k and two arrows f:j\to k and f':j'\to k in J,
  • for every two parallel arrows u,v:i\to j in J, there exists an object k and an arrow w:j\to k such that wu = wv.

A filtered colimit is a colimit of a functor F:J\to C where J is a filtered category.

[edit] Cofiltered categories

There is a dual notion of cofiltered category. A category J is cofiltered if the opposite category Jop is filtered. In detail, a category is cofiltered when

  • it is not empty
  • for every two objects j and j' in J there exists an object k and two arrows f:k\to j and f':k \to j' in J,
  • for every two parallel arrows u,v:j\to i in J, there exists an object k and an arrow w:k\to j such that uw = vw.

A (co)filtered limit is a limit of a functor F:J \to C where J is a cofiltered category.