functor

noun — 4 senses

functor

noun

UK /ˈfʌŋktə/

Etymology From function, modeled after factor.

1

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A function word.

2

A function object.

Object-oriented programming

3

Category theory, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A category homomorphism; a morphism from a source category to a target category which maps objects to objects and arrows to arrows (either covariantly or contravariantly), in such a way as to preserve morphism composition and identities.

  • In the category of categories #92;mathbf#123;Cat#125; the objects are categories and the morphisms are functors.
  • 1991, Natalie Wadhwa (translator), Yu. A. Brudnyǐ, N. Ya. Krugljak, Interpolation Functors and Interpolation Spaces, Volume I, Elsevier (North-Holland), page 143, Choosing for U the operation of closure, regularization or relative completion, we obtain from a given functor ℱ∈𝒥ℱ the functors ◌̅F: overrightarrow X→◌̅F( overrightarrow X),F⁰: overrightarrow X→F( overrightarrow X)⁰,Fᶜ: overrightarrow X→F( overrightarrow X)ᶜ.
2 more examples
  • Given a homotopical category X and a functor u#58;A#92;rightarrowB, a homotopical u-colimit (resp. u-limit) functor on X will be a homotopically terminal (resp. initial) Kan extension of the identity (50.2) along the induced diagram functor Xᵘ#58;Xᴮ#92;rightarrowXᴬ (47.1).2004, William G. Dwyer, Philip S. Hirschhorn, Daniel M. Kan, Jeffrey H. Smith, Homotopy Limit Functors on Model Categories and Homotopical Categories, American Mathematical Society, page 165:
  • 2009, Benoit Fresse, Modules Over Operads and Functors, Springer, Lecture Notes in Mathematics: 1967, page 35, In this chapter, we recall the definition of the category of Σ_*-objects and we review the relationship between Σ_*-objects and functors. In short, a Σ_*-object (in English words, a symmetric sequence of objects, or simply a symmetric object) is the coefficient sequence of a generalized symmetric functor S(M):X→S(M,X), defined by a formula of the form S(M,X)=⨁ ᪲ᵣ₌₀(M(r)⊗X)_(Σᵣ).
4

A structure allowing a function to apply within a generic type, in a way that is conceptually similar to a functor in category theory.

Functional programming

Derived terms
adjoint functor, anafunctor, bifunctor, contravariant functor, faithful functor, forgetful functor, full functor, functor category, functorial, group functor, identity functor, overfunctor, profunctor, pseudofunctor, representable functor, subfunctor, underlying functor, Yoneda functor

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.