Cofibrant generation of pure monomorphisms in presheaf categories
Abstract
We characterise when the pure monomorphisms in a presheaf category $\mathbf{Set}^\mathcal{C}$ are cofibrantly generated in terms of the category $\mathcal{C}$. In particular, when $\mathcal{C}$ is a monoid $S$ this characterises cofibrant generation of pure monomorphisms between sets with an $S$-action in terms of $S$: this happens if and only if for all $a, b \in S$ there is $c \in S$ such that $a = cb$ or $ca = b$. We give a model-theoretic proof: we prove that our characterisation is equivalent to having a stable independence relation, which in turn is equivalent to cofibrant generation. As a corollary, we show that pure monomorphisms in acts over the multiplicative monoid of natural numbers are not cofibrantly generated.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Rings
Modules
and Algebras
Advanced Topics in Algebra
Algebraic structures and combinatorial models
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Advances in Mathematics
- Volume
- 497
- Pages
- 111010–111010
- Publication date
- 8 May 2026
- Language
- EN