English

Birkhoff's variety theorem for relative algebraic theories

Category Theory 2025-04-18 v4

Abstract

An algebraic theory, sometimes called an equational theory, is a theory defined by finitary operations and equations, such as the theories of groups and of rings. It is well known that algebraic theories are equivalent to finitary monads on Set\mathbf{Set}. In this paper, we generalize this phenomenon to locally finitely presentable categories using partial Horn logic. For each locally finitely presentable category A\mathscr{A}, we define an "algebraic concept" relative to A\mathscr{A}, which will be called an A\mathscr{A}-relative algebraic theory, and show that A\mathscr{A}-relative algebraic theories are equivalent to finitary monads on A\mathscr{A}. In establishing such equivalence, a generalized Birkhoff's variety theorem plays an important role.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2304.04382,
  title  = {Birkhoff's variety theorem for relative algebraic theories},
  author = {Yuto Kawase},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2304.04382},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

34 pages; A better alternative is available arXiv:2403.19661

R2 v1 2026-06-28T09:56:43.025Z