English

Multivariate functorial difference

Category Theory 2026-02-11 v2

Abstract

Partial difference operators for a large class of functors between presheaf categories are introduced, extending our difference operator from \cite{Par24} to the multivariable case. These combine into the Jacobian profunctor which provides the setting for a lax chain rule. We introduce a functorial version of multivariable Newton series whose aim is to recover a functor from its iterated differences. Not all functors are recovered but we get a best approximation in the form of a left adjoint, and the induced comonad is idempotent. Its fixed points are what we call soft analytic functors, a generalization of the multivariable analytic functors of Fiore et al.~\cite{FioGamHylWin08}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2409.09494,
  title  = {Multivariate functorial difference},
  author = {Robert Paré},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.09494},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

60 pages, Final version accepted for Mathematical Structures in Computer Science (Phil Scott memorial volume)

R2 v1 2026-06-28T18:44:49.088Z