Morphisms

Pub Mar 14, 2026 Up Aug 06, 2026

Definition 1. Broadly speaking, a homomorphism is a structure-preserving function between two structured sets. The precise definition of a homomorphism depends on the context.

Once a homomorphism is defined, the following concepts are automatically understood:

The sets of all homomorphisms, monomorphisms, epimorphisms and isomorphisms between two sets $X$ and $Y$ are respectively denoted by

\[\hom(X, Y), \quad \mon(X, Y), \quad \epi(X, Y), \quad \iso(X, Y).\]

The sets of all endomorphisms and automorphisms on a set $X$ are respectively denoted by

\[\endo X, \quad \aut X.\]

Definition 2. Two structured sets $A$ and $B$ are isomorphic, written

\[A \simeq B,\]

if an isomorphism $f$ between them exists. We can then also explicitly write

\[A \underset{f}{\simeq} B.\]