GROTHENDIECK TOPOLOGIES FOR THE SIMPLEX

CATEGORY

FRANK MURPHY-HERNANDEZ AND LUIS RAMOS

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1. Introduction
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2. Preliminaries
We denote the simplex category as ∆. It is the category of non-empty
nite ordinals and monotone maps. For a natural number n, we put [n] for
{0, . . . n}. In this manner [n] is the ordinal n + 1.
We denote the category of sets and functions as S . A simplicial set is
contravariant functor from the simplex category ∆ into S . For reference
of simplicial sets, we recommend [?], [GF09] and [?]. We denote by ∆+ to
the wide subcategory of ∆ that contains only the injective functions. A
semisimplicial is contravariant functor from the simplex category ∆+ into
S . For reference of semisimplicial sets, we have [?] and [?].
For a category A and an object A in A, a sieve S over A is a family
of morphisms in A with codomain A such that f g ∈ S , if f ∈ S and f g
is dened. We denote the family of sieves over A as Ω(A). We have that
Ω(A) is ordered by the inclusion, and we denote by TA the greatest element
of Ω(A) which is the sieve of all morphism with codomain A. Moreover,
the intersection of sieves is a sieve. For a family of morphisms X with
codomain A, we denote by c(X ) the sieve generated by X . In particular, for
a morphism f in A, we have that c(f ) = {f g ∈ A | cod(g) = dom(f )}. We

2020 Mathematics Subject Classication. Primary XXXX; Secondary YYYY.

Key words and phrases. Simplicial Set and Sheaf and Grothendieck Topology.
1
2 F. MURPHY-HERNANDEZ AND L. RAMOS

observe that c(X ) = f ∈X c(f ). For a morphism α : B −→ A, we have that

S

α∗ (c(X )) = f ∈X α∗ (c(f )).

S

We denote by J1 the discrete topology and by J0 the indiscrete topology.

The references that we recommend for topos theory are [?] and [?].
It is well know that presheaves are sheaves for the indiscrete topology
for any category.
[ ?]
2 = {0, 1}

3. Sieves in the simplex category

Proposition 3.1. Let f : [m] −→ [n] be a morphism in ∆. Then
c(f ) = {g : [k] −→ [n] ∈ ∆ | im(g) ⊆ im(f )}

Proof. ⊆) Let g ∈ c(f ). Then there is h ∈ ∆ such that g = f h. It follows

that im(g) ⊆ im(f ).
⊇) Let g : [k] −→ [n] with im(g) ⊆ im(f ). We build a function h : [k] −→
[m] given by h(x) = min{y ∈ [n] | f (y) = g(x)}. As im(g) ⊆ im(f ), the
set {y ∈ [n] | f (y) = g(x)} is not empty for any x ∈ [k]. By construction h
saties that g = f h. We dene Ax = {y ∈ [n] | g(x) ≤ f (y)} for x ∈ [k].
So h(x) = min Ax . If x ≤ x0 in [k], then Ax0 ⊆ Ax . Thus h(x) = min Ax ≤
Ax0 = h(x0 ). Therefore h is monotone and g = f h ∈ c(f ). 
In particular, for a pair f : [m] −→ [n] and g : [k] −→ [n] of morphisms
in ∆ we have that c(f ) ⊆ c(g) if and only if im(f ) ⊆ im(g).

Corollary 3.2. Let f : [m] −→ [n] and g : [k] −→ [n] be morphisms in ∆.

Then c(f ) = c(g) if and only if im(f ) = im(g).
Proposition 3.3. Let S be a sieve over [n] ∈ ∆. Then there is a minimal
family X contained in S such c(X ) = S . Moreover, X is nite.
Proof. Let im(S) := {im(f ) ⊆ [n] | f ∈ S}. For each element in im(S) we
choose a morphism that represents it, and we call the set of representants
by X . As im(S) is nite, we have that X is nite. Therefore c(X ) = S . 

Proposition 3.4. Let f : [m] −→ [n] and α : [k] −→ [n] be two morphisms
in ∆. Then
α∗ (c(f )) = {g : [l] −→ [k] ∈ ∆ | im(g) ⊆ α−1 (im(f ))}.

Proof. ⊆) Let g ∈ α∗ (c(f )). Then αg ∈ c(f ). So α(im(g)) ⊆ im(αg) ⊆

im(f ). Thus
im(g) ⊆ α−1 (α(im(g))) ⊆ α−1 (im(f ))
 GROTHENDIECK TOPOLOGIES FOR THE SIMPLEX CATEGORY 3

⊇) Let g ∈ ∆ with im(g) ⊆ α−1 (im(f )). Then

im(αg) = α(im(g)) ⊆ α(α−1 (im(f )) ⊆ im(f )
Therefore g ∈ α∗ (c(f )). 
Corollary 3.5. Let f : [m] −→ [n] be a morphism in ∆ which is not sur-
jective. Then there is a family of morphisms {αk : [k] −→ [n]}∞
k=0 in ∆ with
αk∗ (c(f )) = ∅
Proof. Let x ∈
/ im(f ) and αk : [k] −→ [n] given by αk (i) = x for any i ∈ [k].
Then α−1 (im(f )) = ∅. Therefore α∗ (c(f )) = ∅. 

4. Grothendieck Topologies and Sheaves in the simplex

category
Proposition 4.1. The Grothendieck topologies over ∆ are the discrete and
the indiscrete.
Proof. Let J be a Grothendieck topology over ∆. If J 6= J0 , then there is
a natural n and R ∈ J([n]) such that R 6= T[n] . So there is a minimal set
X = {f1 , . . . , fm } with R = m i=1 c(fi ). We observe that if fj is surjective
S

for some j = 1, . . . , m then R = c(fj ). By minimality of X we have that

X = {f1 } . As im(f1 ) = im(1[n] ), we get that R = T[n] . Thus fi is not
surjective for i = 1, . . . , m. It follows that for i = 1, . . . , m there is a sequence
of morphisms {αi,k : [k] −→ [n]}∞ k=0 with αi,k (c(fi )) = ∅. It follows that
∗

∗
∅ = αm,k ∗
(. . . (α1,k (R))) ∈ J([k]). As J([k]) is a lter in Ω([k]) and ∅ ∈ J([k]),
we get that J = Ω. Therefore the only Grothendieck topologies in ∆ are J1
and J0 . 
As the simplex category has two topologies and all the simplicial sets are
sheaves for the indiscrete topology, we proceed to study the sheaves for the
discrete topology.

Proposition 4.2. Let F be a simplicial set. If F is a sheaf for the discrete

topology, then F is a terminal simplicial set.
Proof. Let F be a sheaf for the discrete topology, we use the characterization
that for every [n] ∈ ∆ and every S ∈ Ω([n]) if θ : S −→ F is a natural
transformation then exists Θ : h[n] −→ F such that its restriction to S is
θ. Note that this happens for the empty sieve ∅, and as it is initial then
there exists a unique θ : ∅ −→ F . As F is a sheaf, there exists a unique
Θ : h[n] −→ F , but every morphism η : h[n] −→ F restricted to the empty
sieve has the property. This implies that there must be a unique morphism
with domain h[n] and codomain F. So F is a terminal simplicial set. 
4 F. MURPHY-HERNANDEZ AND L. RAMOS

Corollary 4.3. The indiscrete topology over ∆ is the canonical topology

Denition 4.4. If C is a small category, then we denote by G(C) the set of
all Grothendieck topologies over C .

Denition 4.5. Let C be a small category and J, J 0 Grothendieck topologies

over C . Then we put J ≤ J 0 , if J(A) ⊆ J 0 (A) for all objects A ∈ C . This
relation gives structure of partial order to G(C). We notice that J0 is the
least element of G(C), and J1 is the greatest element of G(C). So we have
that G(∆) = 2

5. Separated Presheaf in Simplex Category

6. Sieves in ∆+

Proposition 6.1. Let f : [n] −→ [m] be a morphism in ∆+ then:

(1) n ≤ m
(2) If [n] = [m] then f is the identity morphism.

Proof. (1) It is inmediate that | im(f )| ≤ m + 1. Since f is injective we

have that | im(f )| = n + 1.So we have that [n] = n + 1 ≤ m + 1 = [m]
(2) This is straight forward from the fact that f is monotone an the
previous item.


Corollary 6.2. Let S be a sieve over [n] in ∆+ then S is nite.

Proof. Note that given [n] ≤ [m] ∈ ∆+ there are nite morphisms. Also note
that there are at most m posible domains for a morphism with codomain
[m]. 

Proposition 6.3. Let f : [m] −→ [n] and g : [k] −→ [n] be morphisms in

∆+ . Then c(f ) = c(g) if and only if f = g

Proof. Note that as f ∈ c(f ) = c(g) then exists h : [m] −→ [k] such that
f = gh and we can conclude that [m] ≤ [k]. In asimilar way, we have that
there is i : [k] −→ [m] such that g = f i and we get that [k] ≤ [m]. So
we have that [m] = [k]. Thus h : [m] −→ [m] is the identity. Therefore
f = g. 

Proposition 6.4. Let S be a sieve over [n] in ∆. Then there is a sieve T

over [n] in ∆+ such that c∆ (T ) = S . Moreover T is a set of representants
of im(S)
 GROTHENDIECK TOPOLOGIES FOR THE SIMPLEX CATEGORY 5

Proposition 6.5. Let J be a Grothendieck topology over ∆+ . If J([n]) =

Ω([n]) then for every m ≤ n we have that J([m]) = Ω([m])

Proof. Let m ≤ n, and R a sieve over [m]. We note that if f : [k] −→ [m] ∈ R
then we can extend the codomain of this morphism to [n]. Let R̄ be the
family of morpisms which corestricted to [m] are R. We note that R̄ is a
sieve over [n]. Finally we can see that R = (ιkn )∗ (R̄) and then R ∈ J([m]) 

Denition 6.6. Let R be a sieve over [k] and f : [k] −→ [m] a morphism.
We dene f (R) = {f g|g ∈ R}.

Proposition 6.7. Let R be a sieve over [k] and f : [k] −→ [m] a morphism.
Then:
(1) f (R) is a sieve over [m].
(2) If g : [m] −→ [n] then g(f (R)) = gf (R)
(3) Denote by ιkm : [k] −→ [m] the canonical embedding. Then if k ≤
n ≤ m, ιkm (R) = ιnm (ιkn (R))
(4) f ∗ (f (R)) = R
(5) If S is a sieve over [m] then f (f ∗ (S)) ⊆ S . Note that this may be a
proper contention.
Lemma 6.8. Let J be a topology over a category C , A an object of C and
S, R sieves over A such that S ⊆ R. If S ∈ J(A) then R ∈ J(A).

Proof. We use local character with S and R. Let f : B −→ A be a morphism

in S , so f is in R as well. By denition f ∗ (R) = {g|f g ∈ R} when the
composition makes sense, but since f ∈ R, f ∗ (R) = hB ∈ J(B). So R ∈
J(A). 

Proposition 6.9. Let J be a topology over ∆+ such that J([k]) = Ω([k])

for every k ≤ n. If ιnm (h[n] ) ∈ J(m) for some m > n, then J([m]) = Ω([m])
Proof. Let f¯ ∈ ιnm (h[n] ), then f¯ = ιnm f for some f ∈ h[n] . Let [k] = dom(f¯)
an note that [k] ≤ [n]. Is inmediate that for every g g ∗ (∅) = ∅. From this
we have that f¯∗ (∅) ∈ Ω([k]) = J([k]). So by local character ∅ ∈ J([m]) and
we conclude that J([m]) = Ω([m]). 

Corollary 6.10. Let J be a topology over ∆+ such that J([k]) = Ω([k]) for
every k ≤ n. If ιnm (h[n] ) ∈ J(m) for some m > n, then J([t]) = Ω([t]) for
every t ≤ m
Proof. By the proposition we have that J([m]) = Ω([m]). For the conclusion
we gave 2 proofs, the rst is a corollary of proposition 5.5 but this gave us
6 F. MURPHY-HERNANDEZ AND L. RAMOS

no information at all. The second we use parts 3 and 4 of proposition 5.9.

So we have that for every n < t ≤ m ιnt (h[n] ) = (ιtm )∗ (ιtm (ιnt (h[n] ))). 

Denition 6.11. Let n a natural and S a sieve over [n]. We say that S is
of order m if max{img(f )|f ∈ S} = m. We denote ord(S) for the order of
S

Proposition 6.12. Let n a natural and S a sieve over [n].

(1) If ord(S) = m then m ≤ n.
(2) If ord(S) = m < n then exists T a sieve over [m] such that ιm
n (T ) =
S

Proposition 6.13. Let f : [m] −→ [n] be a morphism in ∆+ . Then

c(f ) = {g : [k] −→ [n] ∈ ∆ | im(g) ⊆ im(f )}

Proposition 6.14. Let f : [m] −→ [n] and α : [k] −→ [n] be two morphisms
in ∆+ . Then
α∗ (c(f )) = {g : [l] −→ [k] ∈ ∆ | im(g) ⊆ α−1 (im(f ))}.

Corollary 6.15. Let f : [m] −→ [n] be a morphism in ∆+ with m < n. Then

there is a family of morphisms {αk : [k] −→ [n]}k=0
n−1
in ∆ with αk∗ (c(f )) = ∅
Proof. Let x ∈
/ im(f ) and αk : [k] −→ [n] given by αk (i) = x for any i ∈ [k].
Then α−1 (im(f )) = ∅. Therefore α∗ (c(f )) = ∅. 

7. Grothendieck Topologies and Sheaves in ∆+

Denition 7.1. Let n be a natural. We dene the assignation Jn : ∆ −→
P( n∈N Ω([n]) as:
S
(
Ω([k]) ,if k ≤ n
Jn ([k]) :=
{T[n] } ,if k > n

We notice that J0 = J0 since Ω([0]) = {T[0] }.

Proposition 7.2. For every natural number n, J n is a topology.

Proof. Let n be a natural number. We only have to check local character,
since the other properties are inmediate. So let k be a natural number, if
k ≤ n then local character is inmediate. If k > n, let R be a sieve, such that
for every f : m −→ k ∈ hk , f ∗ (R) ∈ J n ([m]).Note that since 1[k] ∈ h[k] , then
R = (1[k] )∗ (R) ∈ J n ([k]). Now, as J n ([k]) = {h[k] }, we have that R = h[k] .
Thus J n is a Grothendieck topology. 

Lemma 7.3. Let n ∈ N . Then J0 < Jn < J1 .

 GROTHENDIECK TOPOLOGIES FOR THE SIMPLEX CATEGORY 7

Lemma 7.4. Let n, m ∈ N . If n < m then Jn < Jm .

So we have an embbeding of ω + 1 in G(∆+ ) in the category of posets.

Denition 7.5. Let n ∈ N and F be a lter in Ω([n]). We dene the

assignation J : ∆ −→ P( n∈N Ω([n]) as:
F
S

Ω([k]) ,if k < n

F
J ([k]) := F ,if k = n
{T } ,if k > n

[n]

Proposition 7.6. Let n ∈ N and F be a non empty lter in Ω([n]). Then

J F is a Grothendieck topology.

Proof. The identity axiom is satised by denition. For the base of change
axiom, let R ∈ JF ([k]) and f : [m] −→ [k]. If k > n, then R = T[k] . So
f ∗ (R) = T[m] ∈ JF ([k]). If m < n, then f ∗ (R) ∈ Ω([k]) = JF ([k]). If
m = k = n, then f = 1[n] . Thus f ∗ (R) = R ∈ JF ([n]).Finally we observe
that since f is injective we have that m ≤ k and we have proved all possible
cases. Therefore JF satisies the change of base axiom.
Now, for the local character axiom. Let R ∈ Ω[k] and S ∈ JF ([k]) such
that for any f : [m] −→ [k] ∈ S , f ∗ (R) ∈ JF ([m]).
Let n be a natural number. We only have to check local character, since
the other properties are inmediate. So let k be a natural number, if k ≤ n
then local character is inmediate. If k > n, let R be a sieve, such that for
every f : m −→ k ∈ hk , f ∗ (R) ∈ J n ([m]). Note that since 1[k] ∈ h[k] , then
R = (1[k] )∗ (R) ∈ J n ([k]). Now, as J n ([k]) = {h[k] }, we have that R = h[k] .
Thus J n is a Grothendieck topology. 

We observe that for the smallest no empty lter {T[n] } we have that
J is the indiscrete topology.
{T[n] }

Proposition 7.7. Let J be a non-discrete Grothendieck topology over ∆+ .

If J([n]) 6= {Tn } then J([k]) = Ω([k]) for all k < n

Proof. 

Corollary 7.8. Let J be a non-discrete Grothendieck topology over ∆+ . If

J([n]) 6= {Tn } then J([k]) = {T[k] } for all k > n.

Proof. 

Proposition 7.9. Let J be a Grothendieck topology over ∆+ and [n + 1] ∈

∆+ . If J([n + 1]) 6= T[n+1] then J([k]) = Ω([k]) for k = 0, . . . n.
8 F. MURPHY-HERNANDEZ AND L. RAMOS

Proof. If J([n+1]) 6= {T[n+1] , then there is R ∈ J([n]) such that R 6= T[n+1] .

So there is a nite set X = {f1 , . . . , fm } with R = m i=1 c(fi ). We observe
S

that if fj is surjective for some j = 1, . . . , m then f = 1[n+1] . Thus we get

R = T[n] which is a contradiction. Thus fi is not surjective for i = 1, . . . , m.
Thus fi is not surjective for i = 1, . . . , m. It follows that for i = 1, . . . , m
there is a sequence of morphisms {αi,k : [k] −→ [n+1]}nk=0 with αi,k ∗
(c(fi )) =
∅. It follows that αm,k (. . . (α1,k (R))) = ∅. As J([k]) is a lter in Ω([k]) and
∗ ∗

∅ ∈ J([k]), thenwe get that J([k]) = Ω([k]) for k = 0, . . . , n. 

Proposition 7.10. Let J ∈ G(C) with J 6= J0 and J 6= J1 . Then there is

n ∈ N such that J = Jn

Proof. If J 6= J0 then there is n ∈ N with J([n]) 6= {T[n] }. There is R ∈

J([n]) with R 6= T[n] .
We notice that there must be n ∈ N such that J([k]) = {T[k] } for all
n < k . Otherwise by the latest proposition J must be the discrete topology,
but this cannot happen by hypothesis. So without loose of generality we
assume that n is minimum with such property. If n = 0, then J = J0 and
we are done. Thus we may assume that n > 1. By the last proposition we
have that J([k]) = Ω([k]) for k = 0, . . . , n − 1. By the minimality of n there
is R ∈ J([n]) with R 6= T[n] . We observe that this means that 1[n] ∈ / R,
and in particular that for f ∈ R it happens that dom(f ) = [k] with k < n.
Let S ∈ J([n]) and f ∈ R. Then f ∗ (S) ∈ Ω(dom(f )) = J(dom(f )). So by
the local character of J , we obtain that S ∈ J([n]). Thus J([n]) = Ω([n]).
Therefore J = Jn . 

Clasicar las gavillas....

Proposition 7.11. Let (C, J) be a site and A ∈ C . If J(dom(f )) = Ω(dom(f ))

for all f ∈ TA then J(A) = {TA } or J(A) = Ω(A).

Proof. Let J be a Grothendieck topology over C with J(dom(f )) = Ω(dom(f ))

for all f ∈ TA . If J(A) = {TA } then we are done. If J(A) 6= {TA } then
there is R ∈ J(A) with R 6= TA . If there is f ∈ R with dom(f ) = A
then J(A) = Ω(A) by hypothesis. Let S ∈ Ω(A) and f ∈ R. So f ∗ (S) ∈
Ω(dom(f )) = J(dom(f )). Thus by local character of a Grothendieck topol-
ogy S ∈ J(A). Therefore J(A) = Ω(A). 

Proposition 7.12. Let F be a presheaf over ∆+ . Then F is a discrete sheaf

if and only if Jn -sheaf for all n ∈ N.

Proof. 
 GROTHENDIECK TOPOLOGIES FOR THE SIMPLEX CATEGORY 9

Acknowledgements. Place all thanks and grant acknowledgements here.

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Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciu-
dad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México
Email address : murphy@ciencias.unam.mx
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciu-
dad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México
Email address : ****