Towards Theory and Applications of Generalized Categories to Areas of Type Theory and Categorical Logic

TL;DR

This paper introduces generalized categories, extending classical category theory, and explores their applications to type theory, logic, and topos theory, including a generalized Curry-Howard-Lambek theorem and sheaf theory.

Contribution

It develops the theory of generalized categories and extends key concepts like monads, topos theory, and sheaves within this new framework, connecting logic and type theory.

Findings

Generalized categories can model complex logical and computational structures.

The Curry-Howard-Lambek theorem is extended to generalized categories.

Ideal toposes in this setting retain classical properties such as Heyting algebra structure.

Abstract

Motivated by potential applications to theoretical computer science, in particular those areas where the Curry-Howard correspondence plays an important role, as well as by the ongoing search in pure mathematics for feasible approaches to higher category theory, we undertake a detailed study of a new mathematical abstraction, the generalized category. It is a partially defined monoid equipped with endomorphism maps defining sources and targets on arbitrary elements, possibly allowing a proximal behavior with respect to composition. We first present a formal introduction to the theory of generalized categories. We describe functors, equivalences, natural transformations, adjoints, and limits in the generalized setting. Next we indicate how the theory of monads extends to generalized categories. Next, we present a variant of the calculus of deductive systems developed by Lambek, and give a generalization of the Curry-Howard-Lambek theorem giving an equivalence between the category of typed lambda-calculi and the category of cartesian closed categories and exponential-preserving morphisms that leverages the theory of generalized categories. Next, we develop elementary topos theory in the generalized setting of ideal toposes, utilizing the formalism developed for the Curry-Howard-Lambek theorem. In particular, we prove that ideal toposes possess the same Heyting algebra structure and squares of adjoints that ordinary toposes do. Finally, we develop generalized sheaves, and show that such categories form ideal toposes. We extend Lawvere and Tierney's theorem relating $j$-sheaves and sheaves in the sense of Grothendieck to the generalized setting.