February 19: Bastiaan Cnossen, Synthetic category theory in CaTT
3 views
Skip to first unread message
Dan Christensen
Feb 17, 2026, 10:01:45 PMFeb 17
to HoTT Electronic Seminar Talks
This week the HoTTEST seminar presents:
Bastiaan Cnossen
Synthetic category theory in CaTT
The talk is at 11:30am EST (16:30 UTC) on Thursday, February 19. The talk will be 60 minutes long, followed by up to 30 minutes for questions. See https://hottest-seminar.github.io/ for the Zoom link and a list of all upcoming talks.
All are welcome!
Abstract:
Up to now, most approaches to a synthetic theory of categories are based on Martin-Löf type theory (e.g. directed/simplicial type theory). In this talk, I discuss some first explorations for using the type theory CaTT as a basis for synthetic category theory.
The type theory CaTT, developed by Finster and Mimram, captures the internal language of a weak ω-category: a categorical structure with n-morphisms for every n with operations satisfying the weakest possible form of coherence laws. Unlike HoTT, CaTT may be interpreted directly within any (∞,1)-category, without need for intricate strictification results. In particular, CaTT has a model given by the (∞,1)-category Cat of small (∞,1)-categories.
The long-term goal of our project is to enhance CaTT with additional rules capturing the internal language of Cat. In this talk I will focus on a first step: after explaining the basics of CaTT, I will formulate additional rules in CaTT that force its models to be (∞,1)-categories with products, pullbacks and/or internal homs. I will further explain how we hope to extend this in the future. Everything is joint with Ivan Kobe.
Bastiaan Cnossen
Synthetic category theory in CaTT
The talk is at 11:30am EST (16:30 UTC) on Thursday, February 19. The talk will be 60 minutes long, followed by up to 30 minutes for questions. See https://hottest-seminar.github.io/ for the Zoom link and a list of all upcoming talks.
All are welcome!
Abstract:
Up to now, most approaches to a synthetic theory of categories are based on Martin-Löf type theory (e.g. directed/simplicial type theory). In this talk, I discuss some first explorations for using the type theory CaTT as a basis for synthetic category theory.
The type theory CaTT, developed by Finster and Mimram, captures the internal language of a weak ω-category: a categorical structure with n-morphisms for every n with operations satisfying the weakest possible form of coherence laws. Unlike HoTT, CaTT may be interpreted directly within any (∞,1)-category, without need for intricate strictification results. In particular, CaTT has a model given by the (∞,1)-category Cat of small (∞,1)-categories.
The long-term goal of our project is to enhance CaTT with additional rules capturing the internal language of Cat. In this talk I will focus on a first step: after explaining the basics of CaTT, I will formulate additional rules in CaTT that force its models to be (∞,1)-categories with products, pullbacks and/or internal homs. I will further explain how we hope to extend this in the future. Everything is joint with Ivan Kobe.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages