Category Theoretic Understandings of Universal Algebra and its Dual: Monads and Lawvere Theories, Comonads and What?

Abstract

Universal algebra is often known within computer science in the guise of algebraic specification or equational logic. In 1963, it was given a category theoretic characterisation in terms of what are now called Lawvere theories. Unlike operations and equations, a Lawvere theory is uniquely determined by its category of models. Except for a caveat about nullary operations, the notion of Lawvere theory is equivalent to the universal algebraistʼs notion of an abstract clone. Lawvere theories were soon followed by a further characterisation of universal algebra in terms of monads, the latter quickly becoming preferred by category theorists but not by universal algebraists. In the 1990ʼs began a systematic attempt to dualise the situation. The notion of monad dualises to that of comonad, providing a framework for studying transition systems in particular. Constructs in universal algebra have begun to be dualised too, with different leading examples. But there is not yet a definitive dual of the concept of Lawvere theory, or that of abstract clone, or even a definitive dual of operations and equations. We explore the situation here.