Adjoint maps between implicative semilattices and continuity of localic maps (Q2120440)

\par There exists the concept of \textit{adjoint pair of maps} between partially ordered sets (posets), i.e., given posets \(A\), \(B\), and maps \(f:A\rightarrow B\), \(g:B\rightarrow A\), if \(f(a)\leqslant b\) if and only if \(a\leqslant g(b)\) for every \(a\in A\) and every \(b\in B\), then \(g\) is said to be the \textit{right} or \textit{upper} \textit{adjoint} of \(f\), and \(f\) is said to be the \textit{left} or \textit{lower} \textit{adjoint} of \(g\). An example of an adjoint pair is provided by any map \(f:S\rightarrow T\) between sets, namely, \(f\) induces an adjoint pair of maps \(f_{\rightarrow}:\mathcal{P}S\rightarrow\mathcal{P}T\) and \(f^{\leftarrow}:\mathcal{P}T\rightarrow\mathcal{P}S\) between the powersets \(\mathcal{P}S\) and \(\mathcal{P}T\) defined by \(f_{\rightarrow}(U)=\{f(u)\mid u\in U\}\) for every \(U\in\mathcal{P}S\) and \(f^{\leftarrow}(V)=\{s\in S\mid f(s)\in V\}\) for every \(V\in\mathcal{P}T\). \par The above example can be extended to two functors between the category \textbf{Top} of topological spaces and continuous maps, the categories \textbf{Frm} of frames and frame homomorphisms (maps preserving arbitrary joins and finite meets), and \textbf{Loc} of locales (another word for frames) and locale morphisms or localic maps (right adjoints of frame homomorphisms), which are the cornerstones of point-free topology [\textit{P. T. Johnstone}, Stone spaces. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1982; Zbl 0499.54001)]. More precisely, there exists a contravariant functor \(\mathcal{O}^{\leftarrow}:\textbf{Top}\rightarrow\textbf{Frm}\) defined on a continuous map \(f:S\rightarrow T\) by \(\mathcal{O}^{\leftarrow}f:\mathcal{O}T\rightarrow\mathcal{O}S\), \(\mathcal{O}^{\leftarrow}f(V)=f^{\leftarrow}(V)\), where \(\mathcal{O}S\) and \(\mathcal{O}T\) are the topologies on the spaces \(S\) and \(T\), respectively. Moreover, there exists a functor \(\mathcal{O}_{\rightarrow}:\textbf{Top}\rightarrow\textbf{Loc}\) defined on a continuous map \(f:S\rightarrow T\) by \(\mathcal{O}_{\rightarrow}f:\mathcal{O}S\rightarrow\mathcal{O}T\), \(\mathcal{O}_{\rightarrow}f(U)=T\backslash \operatorname{cl}(f_{\rightarrow}(S\backslash U))\), where \(\operatorname{cl}(-)\) stands for the topological closure. \par The present paper considers localic maps as ``continuous maps'' and characterizes them by certain concrete continuity properties in the closure-theoretical sense (preimages of closed subobjects are closed, and the formation of preimages commutes with complementation). To be more general, the authors study the category of implicative semilattices, i.e., meet-semilattices with top elements, where the unary meet operations \(\lambda_a = a\wedge-\) have right adjoints \(\alpha_a = a\rightarrow-\). One should observe that frames and locales are just the complete implicative semilattices. In order to have \textbf{Frm} and \textbf{Loc} as full subcategories of two respective dual categories, whose objects are implicative semilattices, the authors consider as morphisms not the usual implicative homomorphisms (preserving finite meets and the binary operation \(\rightarrow\)), but the left adjoint top-preserving semilattice homomorphisms, briefly referred to as r-morphisms, and in the opposite direction their right adjoints, the so-called \textit{localizations}~[\textit{G. Bezhanishvili} and \textit{S. Ghilardi}, Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 147, No. 1--2, 84--100 (2007; Zbl 1123.03055)] or l-morphisms. In one word, r-morphisms have right adjoints and preserve finite meets, whereas l-morphisms have left adjoints that preserve finite meets. \par The paper is well written, gives most of its required preliminaries (the omitted concepts can be found in one of the references at the end of the paper), and will be of interest to the researchers studying point-free topology.