English

The Euler characteristic of a category

Category Theory 2010-02-04 v1 Algebraic Topology Combinatorics

Abstract

The Euler characteristic of a finite category is defined and shown to be compatible with Euler characteristics of other types of object, including orbifolds. A formula for the cardinality of the colimit of a diagram of sets is proved, generalizing the classical inclusion-exclusion formula. Both rest on a generalization of Mobius-Rota inversion from posets to categories.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0610260,
  title  = {The Euler characteristic of a category},
  author = {Tom Leinster},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0610260},
  year   = {2010}
}

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24 pages