A category of sections is assembled from the fibers of a cartesian or cocartesian fibration. Its limits and colimits are therefore often computed fiberwise, but the required hypotheses depend on the variance. Colimits of sections of a cocartesian fibration require cocartesian transport to preserve the colimits in question, whereas limits require no preservation hypothesis. Dually, limits of sections of a cartesian fibration require preservation by cartesian transport, whereas colimits do not. The following proposition records all four cases. It is used in the analysis of filtered limits of topoi in Section 4.3.

Proposition B.1.

Let \(K\) and \(I\) be categories, let \(F\colon I\to\Cat\), and let \(G\colon I\catop\to\Cat\). Write

\[p\colon \int^{\cc}_I F\longrightarrow I \qquadtext{and}\qquad q\colon \int^{\ct}_I G\longrightarrow I\]

for the associated cocartesian and cartesian fibrations, respectively.

  1. Suppose that every \(F(i)\) admits \(K\)-indexed colimits and that every cocartesian transport functor \(\alpha_!\colon F(i)\to F(j)\) preserves them. Then \(\Gamma_I(p)\) admits \(K\)-indexed colimits.

  2. Suppose that every \(F(i)\) admits \(K\)-indexed limits. Then \(\Gamma_I(p)\) admits \(K\)-indexed limits.

  3. Suppose that every \(G(i)\) admits \(K\)-indexed limits and that every cartesian transport functor \(\alpha^*\colon G(j)\to G(i)\) preserves them. Then \(\Gamma_I(q)\) admits \(K\)-indexed limits.

  4. Suppose that every \(G(i)\) admits \(K\)-indexed colimits. Then \(\Gamma_I(q)\) admits \(K\)-indexed colimits.

In every case, the indicated limits or colimits are computed pointwise. In particular, all evaluation functors preserve them.

Proof
We first prove (1). Consider the full subcategory of \(\Cat_{/I}\) spanned by those functors \(u\colon J\to I\) for which the category of sections of \(u^*p\) admits \(K\)-indexed colimits computed pointwise. This subcategory is closed under colimits. Indeed, if \(J\simeq\colim_aJ_a\) in \(\Cat_{/I}\), then
\[\Fun_{/I}\left(J,\int_I^{\cc}F\right) \simeq \lim_a\Fun_{/I}\left(J_a,\int_I^{\cc}F\right).\]
The restriction functors in this limit preserve pointwise colimits, so if all the categories on the right admit \(K\)-indexed colimits computed pointwise, then so does the category on the left.Every category is a colimit of simplices, and each \([n]\) is an iterated pushout of copies of \([1]\) along \([0]\). It therefore suffices to consider maps \([0]\to I\) and \([1]\to I\). The first case is precisely the assumption that each fiber admits \(K\)-indexed colimits. A map \([1]\to I\) classifies a morphism \(\alpha\colon i\to j\). The category of sections of the resulting cocartesian fibration sits in a pullback square
Commutative diagram generated from the LaTeX source
The categories in the other three corners admit \(K\)-indexed colimits, the source evaluation \(s\) preserves them, and \(\alpha_!\) preserves them by assumption. Hence the pullback admits \(K\)-indexed colimits computed by the two projections. This proves (1).Statement (4) is [Lurie 2009, Proposition 5.1.2.2], applied to the cartesian fibration \(q\). Passing to opposite categories and using \(K\catop\) as the indexing category gives (2): the functor \(p\catop\colon (\int_I^{\cc}F)\catop\to I\catop\) is a cartesian fibration with fibers \(F(i)\catop\), and
\[\Gamma_I(p)\catop\simeq\Gamma_{I\catop}(p\catop).\]
Finally, applying (1), with indexing category \(K\catop\), to the cocartesian fibration \(q\catop\colon (\int_I^{\ct}G)\catop\to I\catop\) proves (3), because the opposite of a cartesian transport functor \(\alpha^*\colon G(j)\to G(i)\) preserves \(K\catop\)-indexed colimits precisely when \(\alpha^*\) preserves \(K\)-indexed limits. The pointwise descriptions in these arguments also show that all evaluation functors preserve the indicated limits or colimits.

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References

  1. Jacob Lurie. Higher topos theory. Ann. Math. Stud. 170, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2009.