A new perspective on comodules of polynomial comonads

Bryce Clarke

Tallinn University of Technology




Abstract: Categories, functors, profunctors, and natural transformations form the building blocks of category theory. Recently in the seminar, Priyaa spoke about viewing categories as polynomial comonads, however the notion of comonad morphism and comodule we obtain are quite different to functors and profunctors. Morphisms of polynomial comonads are spans of an identity-on-objects functor and a discrete opfibration, while comodules of polynomial comonads are spans of a profunctor and a discrete opfibration. In this talk, I will explain these notions, provide examples, and demonstrate a new characterisation of comodules of polynomial comonads as functors A^{op} x B -> Poly.