Abstract
Category theory is a relatively new field of mathematics that has grown much in popularity in recent years. It is a general theory of mathematical structure that lends itself to making overarching, yet deep, connections between many branches of mathematics. This power to make such wide-reaching statements is what has drawn many to study it. However, category theory has also been criticized for being "abstract nonsense," in that some believe the theory to be too abstract to carry meaning, much less be applied to the real world. The goal of this paper is to introduce the main ideas of category theory: categories, functors, and natural transformations. Examples will be provided throughout, and, at the end, a brief overview is given of some interesting ideas, results, and applications of category theory.
Recommended Citation
Kopp, Joseph
(2024)
"An Introduction to Category Theory,"
Electronic Proceedings of Undergraduate Mathematics Day: Vol. 8, Article 2.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/epumd/vol8/iss1/2