Actions, semidirect products and crossed semimodules in the category of small categories with a fixed set of objects

Abstract

We generalize to the fibres of the fibration $\mathcal{O}:\mathbf{Cat}\to \mathbf{Set},$ defined by mapping a small category $\mathbb{X}$ to its set of objects $X_0=ob(\mathbb{X}),$ the classical notions of action and semidirect product of monoids. We prove that the equivalence between monoid actions of a monoid $Y$ and Schreier split extensions on $Y,$ which is well known to generalize the equivalence between actions and split extensions for groups, is an instance of a broader adjunction between Schreier points and actions in the fibres ${\mathcal{O}}^{-1}(B).$ This adjunction is an equivalence if and only if $B=1,$ i.e., for the category $\mathbf{Mon}$ of monoids. Similarly, we prove that there is an adjunction (which, in the case of monoids, results in a known equivalence due to Patchkoria) between Schreier internal categories in the fibres ${\mathcal{O}}^{-1}(B)$ and the category of crossed semimodules in ${\mathcal{O}}^{-1}(B).$ The latter are defined by translating in ${\mathcal{O}}^{-1}(B)$ the notion of crossed semimodule in $\mathbf{Mon}.$ Eventually, we prove that, by defining crossed modules appropriately, this last adjunction yields an equivalence between crossed modules and Schreier internal groupoids in the fibres of $\mathcal{O}.$