Category Theory – Duality Involution on Presentable Categories

ct.category-theoryhigher-category-theorylocally-presentable-categories

$\newcommand\Psh{\mathit{Psh}}\newcommand\Pr{\mathit{Pr}}$Let $\Psh$ be the category of presheaf categories and cocontinuous functors which preserve tiny objects. There is a functor $(-)^\ast : \Psh \to \Psh$ sending $\Psh(C) \mapsto \Psh(C^\text{op})$. This functor is an involution in the sense that $(\Psh(C)^\ast)^\ast = \Psh(C)$. Note that there is a non-full inclusion $i : \Psh \to \Pr^L$ into the category of presentable categories and cocontinuous functors.

Question: Is there an involution $(-)^\star : \Pr^L \to \Pr^L$ such that $i(\Psh(C)^\ast) = (i(\Psh(C)))^\star$?

(I have freely mixed and matched terminology here from 1-categories and $\infty$-categories. The above question is really two questions: one in the 1-categorical case and another in the $\infty$-categorical case. Please ask if it's unclear what I'm saying!)

Notes:

  • Of course, the opposite category to a presentable category is rarely presentable. Note that the putative involution I'm asking about would not be obtained by taking the opposite category.

  • The duality involution on $\Psh$ is related to dualizability with respect to the Lurie tensor product. I'm pretty sure I've been told that the only dualizable objects in $\Pr^L$ are the retracts of presheaf categories. But I don't think that rules out an involution of the form I'm asking about. (I'm a bit confused on this point too, because the involution I'm asking about would anyway be covariant rather than contravariant like the one related to dualizability.)

Best Answer

The answer is no, even if you restrict to the full subcategory of $Pr^L$ spanned by the $Psh(C)$'s. I'll answer in the $1$-categorical case but : a- the $\infty$-categorical case follows because presentable $1$-categories are presentable $\infty$-categories and b- even if it didn't strictly follow, one easily convinces oneself that the same method works.

Indeed, your involution provides, for any $Set\to Psh(C)$, a functor $Set = i(Set) \to i(Psh(C)) = Psh(C^{op})$, i.e., for any presheaf $F$ on $C$, a canonical presheaf on $C^{op}$.

Specifically, for every $F: C^{op} \to Set$ it gives you some $\iota F : C\to Set$ in a way compatible with left Kan extension along small functors $C\to D$. Note that on representables, it sends $\hom(-,x)$ to $\hom(x,-)$.

Now I claim that $\iota$ can be extended to a functor.

Namely, say I have a natural transformation of presheaves of $C$, $F\to G$, viewed as $\Delta^1 \to Psh(C)$, then I can extend it to $Psh(\Delta^1) \to Psh(C)$ and the two inclusions $\Delta^{\{i\}}\to \Delta^1$ show that applying my involution $i$ and restricting along $\Delta^1\to Psh(\Delta^1)$ gives me a transformation $\iota G\to \iota F$ (there is an inversion of direction because of $\Delta^1$ vs $(\Delta^1)^{op}$.

Furthermore, by looking at $\Delta^2$, it is easy to see that this really makes $\iota$ into a functor. In particular $\iota : Psh(C)\to Psh(C^{op})^{op}$ is a functor which restricts to the identity along the Yoneda embeddings.

Because $i$ is an involution and not only a functor, you can do the same thing in the opposite direction, and the fact that it's an involution shows that the composite $Psh(C)\to Psh(C^{op})^{op} \to Psh(C)$ is the identity, and same of course in the other direction. In particular, $Psh(C)\simeq Psh(C^{op})^{op}$, which is impossible.

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