English

Enhanced 2-categories and limits for lax morphisms

Category Theory 2012-02-20 v2

Abstract

We study limits in 2-categories whose objects are categories with extra structure and whose morphisms are functors preserving the structure only up to a coherent comparison map, which may or may not be required to be invertible. This is done using the framework of 2-monads. In order to characterize the limits which exist in this context, we need to consider also the functors which do strictly preserve the extra structure. We show how such a 2-category of weak morphisms which is "enhanced", by specifying which of these weak morphisms are actually strict, can be thought of as category enriched over a particular base cartesian closed category F. We give a complete characterization, in terms of F-enriched category theory, of the limits which exist in such 2-categories of categories with extra structure.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1104.2111,
  title  = {Enhanced 2-categories and limits for lax morphisms},
  author = {Stephen Lack and Michael Shulman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1104.2111},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

77 pages; v2 minor changes only, to appear in Advances

R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:52:42.404Z