Categories of partial maps (Q1109871)

Most examples which motivate the concepts of category theory are concerned with sets (usually with some structure) and mappings (which preserve the structure). Comparatively little has been done with abstracting the concept of partially defined functions. Such functions play an important role in mathematics and theoretical computer science. For example, partial recursive functions play a significant role in recursive function theory. Starting with an abstract category, the authors define the concept of partial maps in the natural way. I.e., a partial map from A to B is a pair consisting of a monomorphism from D to A for some D and a map from D to B. A problem that arises is that D is defined only up to isomorphism. Using a reasonable definition of composition the authors obtain a category Ptl(A) of partial maps from a given category A. The monics allowed are usually restricted to what the author calls an admissible class. The authors define the concept of p-category which is, roughly speaking, a category with products where the products have many of the properties of a categorical product without necessarily satisfying the universal property for products. One of the main results of the paper is a full embedding theorem for p-categories into a category of partial maps. The authors then compare the concept of p-category with other related concepts in the literature. First they consider the concept of dominical category recently introduced by DiPaola and Heller. They show that a dominical category is a p-category but not conversely. Other related concepts in the literature include that of partial cartesian categories and bicategories of partial maps.