Derivators, pointed derivators and stable derivators (Q1941810)

A prederivator is a contravariant strict two-functor from the two-category of small categories to the `two-category' of not necessarily small categories. A derivator is a prederivator that satisfies some additional axioms. The standard example is the association \(J \mapsto \text{Ho}(M^J)\) for \(M\) a model category. Of particular interest is the case where all of the values of a derivator \(D\) are triangulated categories and all of the functors in \(D\) are exact functors. The abstraction of this idea leads to the concept of a stable derivator. The study of stable derivators was begun by Heller and Grothendieck. More recent work by Cisinski and Neeman shows the continued importance of stable derivators to stable homotopy theory. One motivation for stable deriviators is as follows. If \(e\) denotes the category with one object and one morphism and \(D\) is a stable derivator, then \(D(e)\) is a triangulated category that has all small colimits. Hence stable derivators are an improvement on the notion of triangulated categories. The standard examples come from the derived category of an abelian category or from a stable model category as above. This paper provides a thorough introduction to the concept of derivators, pointed derivators and stable derivators. The author defines a pointed derivator as a derivator \(D\) whose value at \(e\) is a category whose initial and terminal object are isomorphic. This is shown to be equivalent to the much more complicated definition currently in use. A stable derivator is (roughly) a pointed derivator such that the cartesian squares in \(D(e)\) are exactly the cocartesian squares in \(D(e)\). This paper proves that stable derivators take values in triangulated categories and that the functors in a stable derivator are exact. Furthermore the triangulation on \(D(J)\) is canonical. In the unstable case, the author defines an additive derivator to be a derivator such that \(D(e)\) is an additive category. The author then proves that additive derivators are an enhancement of pre-triangulated categories just as stable derivators are an enhancement of triangulated categories. Throughout the paper the modern categorical language of mates is used. This, along with the simpler notion of pointed derivators, streamlines the exposition significantly.