The language of ∞-categories provides an insightful new way of expressing many results in higher-dimensional mathematics but can be challenging for the uninitiated. To explain what exactly an ∞-category is requires various technical models, raising the question of how they might be compared. To overcome this, a model-independent approach is desired, so that theorems proven with any model would apply to them all. This text develops the theory of ∞-categories from first principles in a model-independent fashion using the axiomatic framework of an ∞-cosmos, the universe in which ∞-categories live as objects. An ∞-cosmos is a fertile setting for the formal category theory of ∞-categories, and in this way the foundational proofs in ∞-category theory closely resemble the classical foundations of ordinary category theory. Equipped with exercises and appendices with background material, this first introduction is meant for students and researchers who have a strong foundation in classical 1-category theory.

Introduction to concepts of category theory — categories, functors, natural transformations, the Yoneda lemma, limits and colimits, adjunctions, monads — revisits a broad range of mathematical examples from the categorical perspective. 2016 edition.

A short introduction ideal for students learning category theory for the first time.

This book develops abstract homotopy theory from the categorical perspective with a particular focus on examples. Part I discusses two competing perspectives by which one typically first encounters homotopy (co)limits: either as derived functors definable when the appropriate diagram categories admit a compatible model structure, or through particular formulae that give the right notion in certain examples. Emily Riehl unifies these seemingly rival perspectives and demonstrates that model structures on diagram categories are irrelevant. Homotopy (co)limits are explained to be a special case of weighted (co)limits, a foundational topic in enriched category theory. In Part II, Riehl further examines this topic, separating categorical arguments from homotopical ones. Part III treats the most ubiquitous axiomatic framework for homotopy theory - Quillen's model categories. Here, Riehl simplifies familiar model categorical lemmas and definitions by focusing on weak factorization systems. Part IV introduces quasi-categories and homotopy coherence.

Category theory provides structure for the mathematical world and is seen everywhere in modern mathematics. With this book, the author bridges the gap between pure category theory and its numerous applications in homotopy theory, providing the necessary background information to make the subject accessible to graduate students or researchers with a background in algebraic topology and algebra. The reader is first introduced to category theory, starting with basic definitions and concepts before progressing to more advanced themes. Concrete examples and exercises illustrate the topics, ranging from colimits to constructions such as the Day convolution product. Part II covers important applications of category theory, giving a thorough introduction to simplicial objects including an account of quasi-categories and Segal sets. Diagram categories play a central role throughout the book, giving rise to models of iterated loop spaces, and feature prominently in functor homology and homology of small categories.