module Cat.Bi.Instances.Spans {o } (C : Precategory o ) where

The bicategory of spans🔗

Let be a precategory. By a span in (from an object to an object we mean a diagram of the form Note that the “vertex” of this span, the object is part of the data, so that the collection of “spans in ” will not be a set (unless is strict) — so we can not construct a category where is the collection of spans from to

However, we can make spans in the objects of a category, and the hom-sets are the maps in between the vertices which “commute with the legs”. Diagrammatically, a map between spans is the dashed line in

where both the left and right triangles must commute.

record Span (a b : Ob) : Type (o  ) where
  constructor span
  field
    apex  : Ob
    left  : Hom apex a
    right : Hom apex b

open Span

record Span-hom {a b : Ob} (x y : Span a b) : Type  where
  no-eta-equality
  field
    map   : Hom (x .apex) (y .apex)
    left  : x .left   y .left  map
    right : x .right  y .right  map

The category of spans between and admits a faithful functor to (projecting the vertex and the “middle map”, respectively), so that equality of maps of spans can be compared at the level of maps in

Spans : Ob  Ob  Precategory _ _
Spans x y .Precategory.Ob = Span x y
Spans x y .Precategory.Hom = Span-hom
Spans x y .Precategory.Hom-set _ _ = hlevel 2
Spans x y .Precategory.id .map = id
Spans x y .Precategory.id .left = intror refl
Spans x y .Precategory.id .right = intror refl
Spans x y .Precategory._∘_ f g .map = f .map  g .map
Spans x y .Precategory._∘_ f g .left = g .left  pushl (f .left)
Spans x y .Precategory._∘_ f g .right = g .right  pushl (f .right)
Spans x y .Precategory.idr f = Span-hom-path (idr _)
Spans x y .Precategory.idl f = Span-hom-path (idl _)
Spans x y .Precategory.assoc f g h = Span-hom-path (assoc _ _ _)

Now suppose that admits pullbacks for arbitrary pairs of maps. Supposing that we have some spans and we can fit them in an M-shaped diagram like

so that taking the pullback of the diagram gives us an universal solution to the problem of finding a span Since pullbacks are universal, this composition operation is functorial, and so extends to a composition operation Span-∘:

module _ (pb :  {a b c} (f : Hom a b) (g : Hom c b)  Pullback C f g) where
  open Functor

  Span-∘ :  {a b c}  Functor (Spans b c ×ᶜ Spans a b) (Spans a c)
  Span-∘ .F₀ (sp1 , sp2) =
    span pb.apex (sp2 .left  pb.p₂) (sp1 .right  pb.p₁)
    where module pb = Pullback (pb (sp1 .left) (sp2 .right))

  Span-∘ .F₁ {x1 , x2} {y1 , y2} (f , g) = res
    where
      module x = Pullback (pb (x1 .left) (x2 .right))
      module y = Pullback (pb (y1 .left) (y2 .right))

      x→y : Hom x.apex y.apex
      x→y = y.universal {p₁' = f .map  x.p₁} {p₂' = g .map  x.p₂} comm
        where abstract
          open Pullback
          comm : y1 .left  f .map  x.p₁  y2 .right  g .map  x.p₂
          comm = pulll (sym (f .left))  x.square  pushl (g .right)

      res : Span-hom _ _
      res .map = x→y
      res .left = sym (pullr y.p₂∘universal  pulll (sym (g .left)))
      res .right = sym (pullr y.p₁∘universal  pulll (sym (f .right)))

  Span-∘ .F-id {x1 , x2} = Span-hom-path $ sym $ x.unique id-comm id-comm
    where module x = Pullback (pb (x1 .left) (x2 .right))

  Span-∘ .F-∘ {x1 , x2} {y1 , y2} {z1 , z2} f g =
    Span-hom-path $ sym $ z.unique
      (pulll z.p₁∘universal  pullr y.p₁∘universal  assoc _ _ _)
      (pulll z.p₂∘universal  pullr y.p₂∘universal  assoc _ _ _)
    where
      module x = Pullback (pb (x1 .left) (x2 .right))
      module y = Pullback (pb (y1 .left) (y2 .right))
      module z = Pullback (pb (z1 .left) (z2 .right))

What we’ll show in the rest of this module is that Span-∘ lets us make Spans into the categories of 1-cells of a prebicategory, the (pre)bicategory of spans (of As mentioned before, this prebicategory has (a priori) no upper bound on the h-levels of its 1-cells, so it is not locally strict. We remark that when is univalent, then is locally so, and when is gaunt, then is strict.

Since the details of the full construction are grueling, we will present only an overview of the unitors and the associator. For the left unitor, observe that the composition is implemented by a pullback diagram like

but observe that the maps and also form a cone over the cospan so that there is a unique map filling the dashed line in the diagram above such that everything commutes: hence there is an invertible 2-cell The right unitor is analogous.

  open Prebicategory
  open Pullback

  private
    _¤_ :  {a b c} (x : Span b c) (y : Span a b)  Span a c
    f ¤ g = Span-∘ .F₀ (f , g)

    sλ← :  {A B} (x : Span A B)  Span-hom x (span _ C.id C.id ¤ x)
    sλ← x .map   = pb _ _ .universal id-comm-sym
    sλ← x .left  = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  idr _
    sλ← x .right = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idl _

    sρ← :  {A B} (x : Span A B)  Span-hom x (x ¤ span _ C.id C.id)
    sρ← x .map   = pb _ _ .universal id-comm
    sρ← x .left  = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  idl _
    sρ← x .right = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idr _

For the associator, while doing the construction in elementary terms is quite complicated, we observe that, diagrammatically, the composite of three morphisms fits into a diagram like

so that, at a high level, there is no confusion as to which composite is meant. From then, it’s just a matter of proving pullbacks are associative (in a standard, but annoying, way), and showing that these canonically-obtained isomorphisms (are natural in all the possible variables and) satisfy the triangle and pentagon identities.

On second thought, let’s not read that. T’is a silly theorem.
    sα← :  {A B C D} ((f , g , h) : Span C D × Span B C × Span A B)
         Span-hom ((f ¤ g) ¤ h) (f ¤ (g ¤ h))
    sα← (f , g , h) .map = pb _ _ .universal resp' where
      abstract
        resp : g .left C.∘ pb (f .left) (g .right) .p₂
           C.∘ pb ((f ¤ g) .left) (h .right) .p₁
              h .right C.∘ pb ((f ¤ g) .left) (h .right) .p₂
        resp = assoc _ _ _  pb _ _ .square

      shuffle = pb _ _ .universal {p₁' = pb _ _ .p₂ C.∘ pb _ _ .p₁} {p₂' = pb _ _ .p₂} resp

      abstract
        resp' : f .left C.∘ pb (f .left) (g .right) .p₁
            C.∘ pb ((f ¤ g) .left) (h .right) .p₁
               (g ¤ h) .right C.∘ shuffle
        resp' = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  extendl (sym (pb _ _ .square))

    sα← (f , g , h) .left = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
    sα← (f , g , h) .right = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  assoc _ _ _

    sα→ :  {A B C D} ((f , g , h) : Span C D × Span B C × Span A B)
         Span-hom (f ¤ (g ¤ h)) ((f ¤ g) ¤ h)
    sα→ (f , g , h) .map = pb _ _ .universal resp' where
      abstract
        resp : f .left C.∘ pb (f .left) ((g ¤ h) .right) .p₁
              g .right C.∘ pb (g .left) (h .right) .p₁
           C.∘ pb (f .left) ((g ¤ h) .right) .p₂
        resp = pb _ _ .square  sym (assoc _ _ _)

      shuffle = pb _ _ .universal {p₁' = pb _ _ .p₁} {p₂' = pb _ _ .p₁ C.∘ pb _ _ .p₂} resp

      abstract
        resp' : (f ¤ g) .left C.∘ shuffle
               h .right C.∘ pb (g .left) (h .right) .p₂
            C.∘ pb (f .left) ((g ¤ h) .right) .p₂
        resp' = pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  extendl (pb _ _ .square)

    sα→ (f , g , h) .left = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  assoc _ _ _
    sα→ (f , g , h) .right = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)

  open make-natural-iso
  {-# TERMINATING #-}
  Spanᵇ : Prebicategory _ _ _
  Spanᵇ .Ob = C.Ob
  Spanᵇ .Hom = Spans
  Spanᵇ .id = span _ C.id C.id
  Spanᵇ .compose = Span-∘
  Spanᵇ .unitor-l = to-natural-iso ni where
    ni : make-natural-iso (Id {C = Spans _ _}) _
    ni .eta = sλ←
    ni .inv x .map = pb _ _ .p₂
    ni .inv x .left = refl
    ni .inv x .right = pb _ _ .square
    ni .eta∘inv x = Span-hom-path (Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = idl _  ap₂ C._∘_ refl (introl refl)}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
      (id-comm  pb _ _ .square)
      id-comm)
    ni .inv∘eta x = Span-hom-path (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
    ni .natural x y f = Span-hom-path $
      Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = idl _  f .right}
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idl _)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  idr _)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  sym (f .right))
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  idl _)
  Spanᵇ .unitor-r = to-natural-iso ni where
    ni : make-natural-iso (Id {C = Spans _ _}) _
    ni .eta = sρ←
    ni .inv _ .map = pb _ _ .p₁
    ni .inv _ .left = sym (pb _ _ .square)
    ni .inv _ .right = refl
    ni .eta∘inv x = Span-hom-path (Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = introl refl}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idl _)
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
      (idr _)
      (id-comm  sym (pb _ _ .square)))
    ni .inv∘eta x = Span-hom-path (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
    ni .natural x y f = Span-hom-path $
      Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = sym (f .left)  introl refl}
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idr _)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  idl _)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  idl _)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  sym (f .left))
  Spanᵇ .associator = to-natural-iso ni where
    ni : make-natural-iso _ _
    ni .eta = sα←
    ni .inv = sα→
    ni .eta∘inv x = Span-hom-path $
      Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = pb _ _ .square}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = extendl (pb _ _ .square)}
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
          refl refl)
      (idr _)
      (idr _)
    ni .inv∘eta x = Span-hom-path $
      Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = pb _ _ .square}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = extendl (pb _ _ .square)}
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
        refl refl)
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
      (idr _)
      (idr _)
    ni .natural x y f = Span-hom-path $ Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _)
      {p₁' = f .fst .map C.∘ pb _ _ .p₁ C.∘ pb _ _ .p₁}
      {p₂' = pb _ _ .universal
        {p₁' = f .snd .fst .map C.∘ pb _ _ .p₂ C.∘ pb _ _ .p₁}
        {p₂' = f .snd .snd .map C.∘ pb _ _ .p₂}
        (pulll (sym (f .snd .fst .left))  assoc _ _ _  pb _ _ .square  pushl (f .snd .snd .right))}
      {p = sym $ pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pulll (sym (f .snd .fst .right))  extendl (sym (pb _ _ .square))  pushl (f .fst .left)}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .unique
        (pulll (extendl (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))  pullr (pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  ap₂ C._∘_ refl (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))
        (pulll (extendl (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  pullr (pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  ap₂ C._∘_ refl (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  sym (assoc _ _ _))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .unique
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  extendl (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
        (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
  Spanᵇ .triangle f g = Span-hom-path $
    pb _ _ .unique
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal  introl refl)
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  eliml refl)
  Spanᵇ .pentagon f g h i = Span-hom-path $
    Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _)
      {p = pullr (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  ap₂ C._∘_ refl (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)))
          ap₂ C._∘_ refl (extendl (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  sym (ap₂ C._∘_ refl (idl _  extendl (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  extendl (sym (pb _ _ .square)))}
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pullr (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)))
      (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
       Pullback.unique₂ (pb _ _) {p = pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  extendl (pb _ _ .square)  sym (assoc _ _ _)}
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .unique
            (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)  pb _ _ .p₁∘universal  idl _)
            (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pulll (pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))  pullr (pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))  pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal)))
          (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal))
           ap₂ C._∘_ refl (pulll (pb _ _ .p₁∘universal))  pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)  sym (assoc _ _ _)))
      ( pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
      ·· pullr (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal)
      ·· sym (idl _ ·· pulll (pb _ _ .p₂∘universal) ·· sym (assoc _ _ _)))