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The homotopical monadicity theorem

Algebraic Topology 2026-07-13 v1

Abstract

We give an axiomatic homotopical analog of the classical categorical Beck monadicity theorem. It often holds when classical monadicity fails. This grew out of an understanding of a general context for recognition principles in iterated loop space theory, as treated in the logical sequel ArXiv 2402.03649, but the present result applies differently and more generally. An example gives a new perspective on the old equivalence between simplicial sets and topological spaces: both are equivalent to simplicial topological spaces, and the equivalence implies a curiously close relationship between realizations of simplicial spaces and realizations of their underlying simplicial sets, viewed as discrete simplicial spaces.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.12124,
  title  = {The homotopical monadicity theorem},
  author = {Hana Jia Kong and J. Peter May and Foling Zou},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.12124},
  year   = {2026}
}

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22 pages