English

Univalence in Higher Category Theory

Category Theory 2021-03-31 v2

Abstract

Univalence was first defined in the setting of homotopy type theory by Voevodsky, who also (along with Kapulkin and Lumsdaine) adapted it to a model categorical setting, which was subsequently generalized to locally Cartesian closed presentable \infty-categories by Gepner and Kock. These definitions were used to characterize various \infty-categories as models of type theories. We give a definition for univalent morphisms in finitely complete \infty-categories that generalizes the aforementioned definitions and completely focuses on the \infty-categorical aspects, characterizing it via representability of certain functors, which should remind the reader of concepts such as adjunctions or limits. We then prove that in a locally Cartesian closed \infty-category (that is not necessarily presentable) univalence of a morphism is equivalent to the completeness of a certain Segal object we construct out of the morphism, characterizing univalence via internal \infty-categories, which had been considered in a strict setting by Stenzel. We use these results to study the connection between univalence and elementary topos theory. We also study univalent morphisms in the category of groups, the \infty-category of \infty-categories, and pointed \infty-categories.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2103.12762,
  title  = {Univalence in Higher Category Theory},
  author = {Nima Rasekh},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.12762},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

40 Pages, originally part of arXiv:1805.03561, fixed a mistake in section 3, corrected some typos and added some references. Comments welcome!

R2 v1 2026-06-24T00:29:13.323Z