A Parameterized Algorithm for Testing whether the Limit of a Diagram is Empty
This provides a computational tool for category theorists and computer scientists working with categorical limits, though the problem is highly specialized.
The paper introduces a parameterized algorithm to test whether the limit of a finite diagram in a finitely complete category is empty, specifically for diagrams in FinSet^J arising from structured co-decompositions. The algorithm runs in fixed-parameter tractable time.
A limit of a (small) diagram $d : J \to E$ in a complete category $E$ can be thought of as specifying a set of equations involving the objects of $E$. To motivate this intuitively, one can think of each object $d(j)$ as a "variable" and each morphism in $J$ as a "constraint" connecting these variables. If $E$ has an initial object, a natural question arises: does our set of equations have any solution at all? Equivalently, we can ask: is the limit of $d$ initial? In this paper we consider the computational problem that, given finite diagram $d$ in a finitely complete category $E$, asks whether its limit is empty. We construct a fast algorithm (in the sense of parameterized complexity theory) that solves this problem when $E$ is of the form $\mathbf{FinSet}^{J}$ for a finite category $J$ and $d$ is a structured co-decomposition, i.e. a diagram arising from the opposite of the Grothendieck construction of a simple graph.