Micron Document
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html class="client-nojs vector-feature-night-mode-disabled vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-sticky-header-enabled" lang="en" dir="ltr"><head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Subobject</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subobject"> <link href="./mw/ext.cite.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/ext.math.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.icons.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.search.codex.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/user.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content="">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./mw/site.styles.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./mw/noscript.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./footer.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./vector-2022.css">
</head>
<body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Subobject rootpage-Subobject skin-vector-2022 action-view">
<div class="mw-page-container">
<div class="mw-page-container-inner">
<div class="mw-content-container">
<main id="content" class="mw-body">
<header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar">
<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">
<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Subobject</span></span>
</h1>
</header>
<a id="top"></a>
<div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body ve-init-mw-desktopArticleTarget-targetContainer" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container="">
<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<p>In <a href="Category_theory" title="Category theory">category theory</a>, a branch of <a href="Mathematics" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a>, a <b>subobject</b> is, roughly speaking, an <a href="Object_(category_theory)" class="mw-redirect" title="Object (category theory)">object</a> that sits inside another object in the same <a href="Category_(mathematics)" title="Category (mathematics)">category</a>. The notion is a generalization of concepts such as <a href="Subset" title="Subset">subsets</a> from <a href="Set_theory" title="Set theory">set theory</a>, <a href="Subgroup" title="Subgroup">subgroups</a> from <a href="Group_theory" title="Group theory">group theory</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Mac_Lane_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mac_Lane-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="Subspace_(topology)" class="mw-redirect" title="Subspace (topology)">subspaces</a> from <a href="Topology" title="Topology">topology</a>. Since the detailed structure of objects is immaterial in category theory, the definition of subobject relies on a <a href="Morphism" title="Morphism">morphism</a> that describes how one object sits inside another, rather than relying on the use of elements.
</p><p>The <a href="Dual_(category_theory)" title="Dual (category theory)">dual</a> concept to a subobject is a <b><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238216509">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#b1d2ff}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#0f4dc9}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#0f4dc9}}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><span class="vanchor"><span class="vanchor-text">quotient object</span></span></b>. This generalizes concepts such as <a href="Quotient_set" class="mw-redirect" title="Quotient set">quotient sets</a>, <a href="Quotient_group" title="Quotient group">quotient groups</a>, <a href="Quotient_space_(topology)" title="Quotient space (topology)">quotient spaces</a>, <a href="Quotient_graph" title="Quotient graph">quotient graphs</a>, etc.
</p>
<meta property="mw:PageProp/toc">
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Definitions">Definitions</h2></div>
<p>An appropriate categorical definition of "subobject" may vary with context, depending on the goal. One common definition is as follows.
</p><p>In detail, let <i><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./7daff47fa58cdfd29dc333def748ff5fa4c923e3.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.743ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle A}" loading="lazy"></span></i> be an object of some category. Given two <a href="Monomorphism" title="Monomorphism">monomorphisms</a>
</p>
<dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u:S\to A\ {\text{and}}\ v:T\to A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>:</mo>
<mi>S</mi>
<mo stretchy="false">→<!-- → --></mo>
<mi>A</mi>
<mtext>&nbsp;</mtext>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mtext>and</mtext>
</mrow>
<mtext>&nbsp;</mtext>
<mi>v</mi>
<mo>:</mo>
<mi>T</mi>
<mo stretchy="false">→<!-- → --></mo>
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u:S\to A\ {\text{and}}\ v:T\to A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./f76205d8e7440dfa1294726f871e7d66407b1528.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:25.09ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u:S\to A\ {\text{and}}\ v:T\to A}" loading="lazy"></span></dd></dl>
<p>with <a href="Codomain" title="Codomain">codomain</a> <i><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./7daff47fa58cdfd29dc333def748ff5fa4c923e3.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.743ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle A}" loading="lazy"></span></i>, we define an equivalence relation by <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u\equiv v}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>≡<!-- ≡ --></mo>
<mi>v</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u\equiv v}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./ddce31a96af3a38074bfca9d52dbbf0536ba2de2.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:5.556ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u\equiv v}" loading="lazy"></span> if there exists an isomorphism <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>ϕ<!-- ϕ --></mi>
<mo>:</mo>
<mi>S</mi>
<mo stretchy="false">→<!-- → --></mo>
<mi>T</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./3fb9f104952db9473a0a6336d021de7bae1b1b92.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:10.072ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}" loading="lazy"></span> with <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>=</mo>
<mi>v</mi>
<mo>∘<!-- ∘ --></mo>
<mi>ϕ<!-- ϕ --></mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./edd24fc9e8132b20bb8f7e9c2e718dce6d5e4474.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:9.136ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }" loading="lazy"></span>.
</p><p>Equivalently, we write <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u\leq v}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>≤<!-- ≤ --></mo>
<mi>v</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u\leq v}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./fe5730c3f2fd9ab2b37f23c0f5ae368e254aeb9c.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.505ex; width:5.556ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u\leq v}" loading="lazy"></span> if <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./c3e6bb763d22c20916ed4f0bb6bd49d7470cffd8.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.33ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u}" loading="lazy"></span> <a href="Mathematical_jargon" class="mw-redirect" title="Mathematical jargon">factors through</a> <i><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle v}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>v</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle v}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./e07b00e7fc0847fbd16391c778d65bc25c452597.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.128ex; height:1.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle v}" loading="lazy"></span></i>—that is, if there exists <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>ϕ<!-- ϕ --></mi>
<mo>:</mo>
<mi>S</mi>
<mo stretchy="false">→<!-- → --></mo>
<mi>T</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./3fb9f104952db9473a0a6336d021de7bae1b1b92.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:10.072ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \phi :S\to T}" loading="lazy"></span> such that <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>=</mo>
<mi>v</mi>
<mo>∘<!-- ∘ --></mo>
<mi>ϕ<!-- ϕ --></mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./edd24fc9e8132b20bb8f7e9c2e718dce6d5e4474.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:9.136ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u=v\circ \phi }" loading="lazy"></span>. The binary relation <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \equiv }">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mo>≡<!-- ≡ --></mo>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \equiv }</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./4c5c34250859b6f6d2a77b4e8a2ceaa90638076d.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: 0.081ex; margin-bottom: -0.253ex; width:1.808ex; height:1.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \equiv }" loading="lazy"></span> defined by
</p>
<dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle u\equiv v\iff u\leq v\ {\text{and}}\ v\leq u}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>≡<!-- ≡ --></mo>
<mi>v</mi>
<mspace width="thickmathspace"></mspace>
<mo stretchy="false">⟺<!-- ⟺ --></mo>
<mspace width="thickmathspace"></mspace>
<mi>u</mi>
<mo>≤<!-- ≤ --></mo>
<mi>v</mi>
<mtext>&nbsp;</mtext>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mtext>and</mtext>
</mrow>
<mtext>&nbsp;</mtext>
<mi>v</mi>
<mo>≤<!-- ≤ --></mo>
<mi>u</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle u\equiv v\iff u\leq v\ {\text{and}}\ v\leq u}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./79f208ce48de05e36c2500c16666d64550ccd2c9.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.505ex; width:28.473ex; height:2.343ex;" alt="{\displaystyle u\equiv v\iff u\leq v\ {\text{and}}\ v\leq u}" loading="lazy"></span></dd></dl>
<p>is an <a href="Equivalence_relation" title="Equivalence relation">equivalence relation</a> on the monomorphisms with codomain <i><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./7daff47fa58cdfd29dc333def748ff5fa4c923e3.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.743ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle A}" loading="lazy"></span></i>, and the corresponding <a href="Equivalence_class" title="Equivalence class">equivalence classes</a> of these monomorphisms are the <b>subobjects</b> of <i><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./7daff47fa58cdfd29dc333def748ff5fa4c923e3.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.743ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle A}" loading="lazy"></span></i>.
</p><p>The relation ≤ induces a <a href="Partial_order" class="mw-redirect" title="Partial order">partial order</a> on the collection of subobjects of <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle A}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mi>A</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle A}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./7daff47fa58cdfd29dc333def748ff5fa4c923e3.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.743ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle A}" loading="lazy"></span>.
</p><p>The collection of subobjects of an object may in fact be a <a href="Proper_class" class="mw-redirect" title="Proper class">proper class</a>; this means that the discussion given is somewhat loose. If the subobject-collection of every object is a <a href="Set_(mathematics)" title="Set (mathematics)">set</a>, the category is called <i>well-powered</i> or, rarely, <i>locally small</i> (this clashes with a different usage of the term <a href="Locally_small_category" class="mw-redirect" title="Locally small category">locally small</a>, namely that there is a set of morphisms between any two objects).
</p><p>To get the dual concept of <b>quotient object</b>, replace "monomorphism" by "<a href="Epimorphism" title="Epimorphism">epimorphism</a>" above and reverse arrows. A quotient object of <i>A</i> is then an equivalence class of epimorphisms with domain <i>A.</i>
</p><p>However, in some contexts these definitions are inadequate as they do not concord with well-established notions of subobject or quotient object. In the category of topological spaces, monomorphisms are precisely the injective continuous functions; but not all injective continuous functions are subspace embeddings. In the category of rings, the inclusion <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} \hookrightarrow \mathbb {Q} }">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mi mathvariant="double-struck">Z</mi>
</mrow>
<mo stretchy="false">↪<!-- ↪ --></mo>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mi mathvariant="double-struck">Q</mi>
</mrow>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} \hookrightarrow \mathbb {Q} }</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./c7926f81b1be4dbf71c7d6793eaf677f4b5af63b.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:7.265ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} \hookrightarrow \mathbb {Q} }" loading="lazy"></span> is an epimorphism but is not the quotient of <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mi mathvariant="double-struck">Z</mi>
</mrow>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./449494a083e0a1fda2b61c62b2f09b6bee4633dc.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.338ex; width:1.55ex; height:2.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }" loading="lazy"></span> by a two-sided ideal. To get maps which truly behave like subobject embeddings or quotients, rather than as arbitrary injective functions or maps with dense image, one must restrict to monomorphisms and epimorphisms satisfying additional hypotheses. Therefore, one might define a "subobject" to be an equivalence class of so-called "regular monomorphisms" (monomorphisms which can be expressed as an equalizer of two morphisms) and a "quotient object" to be any equivalence class of "regular epimorphisms" (morphisms which can be expressed as a coequalizer of two morphisms)
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Interpretation">Interpretation</h2></div>
<p>This definition corresponds to the ordinary understanding of a subobject outside category theory. When the category's objects are sets (possibly with additional structure, such as a group structure) and the morphisms are set functions (preserving the additional structure), one thinks of a monomorphism in terms of its image. An equivalence class of monomorphisms is determined by the image of each monomorphism in the class; that is, two monomorphisms <i>f</i> and <i>g</i> into an object <i>T</i> are equivalent if and only if their images are the same subset (thus, subobject) of <i>T</i>. In that case there is the isomorphism <span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle g^{-1}\circ f}">
<semantics>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0">
<msup>
<mi>g</mi>
<mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD">
<mo>−<!-- − --></mo>
<mn>1</mn>
</mrow>
</msup>
<mo>∘<!-- ∘ --></mo>
<mi>f</mi>
</mstyle>
</mrow>
<annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle g^{-1}\circ f}</annotation>
</semantics>
</math></span><img src="./a4ec3868183d7ba15f9d6cf11f2e49c7b41d0fcf.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:6.924ex; height:3.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle g^{-1}\circ f}" loading="lazy"></span> of their domains under which corresponding elements of the domains map by <i>f</i> and <i>g</i>, respectively, to the same element of <i>T</i>; this explains the definition of equivalence.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2></div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style>
<p>In <b>Set</b>, the <a href="Category_of_sets" title="Category of sets">category of sets</a>, a subobject of <i>A</i> corresponds to a <a href="Subset" title="Subset">subset</a> <i>B</i> of <i>A</i>, or rather the collection of all maps from sets <a href="Equipotent" class="mw-redirect" title="Equipotent">equipotent</a> to <i>B</i> with <a href="Image_(mathematics)" title="Image (mathematics)">image</a> exactly <i>B</i>. The subobject partial order of a set in <b>Set</b> is just its subset <a href="Lattice_(order)" title="Lattice (order)">lattice</a>.
</p><p>In <b>Grp</b>, the <a href="Category_of_groups" title="Category of groups">category of groups</a>, the subobjects of <i>A</i> correspond to the <a href="Subgroup" title="Subgroup">subgroups</a> of <i>A</i>.
</p><p>Given a <a href="Partially_ordered_class" class="mw-redirect" title="Partially ordered class">partially ordered class</a> <b>P</b> = (<i>P</i>, ≤), we can form a category with the elements of <i>P</i> as objects, and a single arrow from <i>p</i> to <i>q</i> iff <i>p</i> ≤ <i>q</i>. If <b>P</b> has a greatest element, the subobject partial order of this greatest element will be <b>P</b> itself. This is in part because all arrows in such a category will be monomorphisms.
</p><p>A subobject of a <a href="Terminal_object" class="mw-redirect" title="Terminal object">terminal object</a> is called a <a href="Subterminal_object" title="Subterminal object">subterminal object</a>.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Subobject_classifier" title="Subobject classifier">Subobject classifier</a></li>
<li><a href="Subquotient" title="Subquotient">Subquotient</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><div class="reflist">
<div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-Mac_Lane-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Mac_Lane_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mac Lane, p. 126</span>
</li>
</ol></div></div>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
<ul><li><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><cite id="CITEREFMac_Lane1998" class="citation cs2"><a href="Saunders_Mac_Lane" title="Saunders Mac Lane">Mac Lane, Saunders</a> (1998), <i><a href="Categories_for_the_Working_Mathematician" title="Categories for the Working Mathematician">Categories for the Working Mathematician</a></i>, <a href="Graduate_Texts_in_Mathematics" title="Graduate Texts in Mathematics">Graduate Texts in Mathematics</a>, vol.&nbsp;5 (2nd&nbsp;ed.), New York, NY: <a href="Springer-Verlag" class="mw-redirect" title="Springer-Verlag">Springer-Verlag</a>, <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&nbsp;<bdi>0-387-98403-8</bdi>, <a href="Zbl_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Zbl (identifier)">Zbl</a>&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&amp;q=an:0906.18001">0906.18001</a></cite></li>
<li><cite id="CITEREFPedicchioTholen2004" class="citation book cs1"><a href="M._Cristina_Pedicchio" title="M. Cristina Pedicchio">Pedicchio, Maria Cristina</a>; Tholen, Walter, eds. (2004). <i>Categorical foundations. Special topics in order, topology, algebra, and sheaf theory</i>. Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Its Applications. Vol.&nbsp;97. Cambridge: <a href="Cambridge_University_Press" title="Cambridge University Press">Cambridge University Press</a>. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&nbsp;<bdi>0-521-83414-7</bdi>. <a href="Zbl_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Zbl (identifier)">Zbl</a>&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&amp;q=an:1034.18001">1034.18001</a>.</cite></li></ul></div><!--htdig_noindex--><div><div class="zim-footer">
This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-05" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Subobject&amp;oldid=1298959551">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.
</div>
</div><!--/htdig_noindex--></div>
</div>
</main>
</div>
</div>
</div>

</body></html>