Toposes as homotopy groupoids (Q1813668)

Given a Grothendieck topos \(E\), the authors produce a partially ordered set \(X\) with Grothendieck topology and a connected locally connected fiberwise contractible covering map \(f\) from sheaves on \(X\) to \(E\). Hence \(E\) is embedded in sheaves on \(X\) in a way which preserves exponentials and first order logic. In addition there is a collection \(P\) of ``paths'' in \(X\) so that \(E\) is equivalent to the sheaves on \(X\) which are constant along these paths in \(P\); a sheaf on \(X\) admits an action of the continuous groupoid \(G\) of homotopy classes of paths in \(P\) if and only if it is constant along the paths in \(P\). The resulting isomorphism between the cohomology of \(E\) and that of \(X\) is discussed in the article ``Toposes are cohomologically equivalent to spaces'' [Am. J. Math. 112, No. 1, 87-95 (1990; Zbl 0713.18004)]\ by the authors.