Commit 2022-04-03 00:36 e41208d8
View on Github →feat(category_theory/monoidal): define monoidal structures on cartesian products of monoidal categories, (lax) monoidal functors and monoidal natural transformations (#13033) This PR contains (fairly straightforward) definitions / proofs of the following facts:
- Cartesian product of monoidal categories is a monoidal category.
- Cartesian product of (lax) monoidal functors is a (lax) monoidal functor.
- Cartesian product of monoidal natural transformations is a monoidal natural transformation.
These are prerequisites to defining a monoidal category structure on the category of monoids in a braided monoidal category (with the approach that I've chosen). In particular, the first bullet point above is a prerequisite to endowing the tensor product functor, viewed as a functor from
C × C
toC
, whereC
is a braided monoidal category, with a strength that turns it into a monoidal functor (stacked PR). This fits as follows into the general strategy for defining a monoidal category structure on the category of monoids in a braided monoidal categoryC
, at least conceptually: first, define a monoidal category structure on the category of lax monoidal functors intoC
, and then transport this structure to the categoryMon_ C
of monoids along the equivalence betweenMon_ C
and the categorylax_monoid_functor (discrete punit) C
. All, not necessarily lax monoidal functors intoC
form a monoidal category with "pointwise" tensor product. The tensor product of two lax monoidal functors equals the composition of their cartesian product, which is lax monoidal, with the tensor product onC
, which is monoidal ifC
is braided. This gives a way to define a tensor product of two lax monoidal functors. The details still need to be fleshed out.