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In https://kerodon.net/tag/02LZ, Lurie observes that the pullback of a localization $F$ is not necessarily a localization. If all pullbacks are localizations, then he calls $F$ universally localizing and proves various properties of universally localizing functors.

What is a good example of a localization whose pullback is not a localization, i.e. a localization that is not universally localizing. By Example 6.3.6.2 on the same page, a coCartesian fibration $F$ is universally localizing if and only if the fibers of $F$ are all weakly contractible.

What about if we assume that $F$ is a reflective localization?

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  • $\begingroup$ I believe that if $F$ is a reflective localization (with right adjoint $i$) and coCartesian fibration, then $F$ is universally localizing. This is because the fiber $E_b$ of $F: E \rightarrow B$ over $b$ is the full subcategory of overcategory $E_{ / i(b)}$ whose objects are $f: e \rightarrow i(b)$ so that $F(f)$ is an isomorphism. This has a terminal object $Id_{i(b)}: i(b) \rightarrow i(b)$ and so the fiber is weakly contractible. $\endgroup$
    – user39598
    Commented Jul 25 at 19:26

1 Answer 1

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$\newcommand{\Cat}{\mathrm{Cat}_\infty} \newcommand{\Spaces}{\mathrm{Spaces}} \newcommand{\map}{\mathrm{map}} \newcommand{\Fun}{\mathrm{Fun}}$ Any coCartesian fibration which is a localization is a universal localization, since coCartesian fibrations are closed under pullbacks, and the fibers are stable under pullbacks as well.

In particular, any localization which inverts all maps, since it has an $\infty$-groupoid as target, is a coCartesian fibration and is therefore a universal localization.

Any (co)reflexive localization is also universal because (co)reflexive localizations are closed under pullbacks.

So we have to look a bit further for examples of non-universal localizations. An easy thing to come up with an example is to observe that $C[W^{-1}]$ typically has more morphisms than $C$, so the pullback $\Delta^1\times_{C[W^{-1}]}C$ is likely to be too small. Let $p:C\to C[W^{-1}]$ denote the localization functor.

Indeed, given a map $f: x\to y$ in $C[W^{-1}]$, objects of $\Delta^1\times_{C[W^{-1}]} C$ are objects of the fibers $p^{-1}(x), p^{-1}(y)$, there are no morphisms in the direction $y\to x$, and morphisms lying over $0\to 1$ are maps from some $x_0\in p^{-1}(x)$ to some $y_0\in p^{-1}(y)$ lifting $f$.

Consider for example the following : $C$ is $a\to b, a\to c, d\to c$ and nothing else. If you invert $a\to c$, you can prove that the resulting category is $[2]= 0\leq 1\leq 2$ with $p: d\mapsto 0, a,c\mapsto 1, b\mapsto 2$, so that there are no maps from the fiber over $0$ to the fiber over $2$. Thus in this example (which I recommend drawing out), $\Delta^1\times_{C[W^{-1}]}C$ has two objects and no maps in either direction, and so it cannot localize onto $\Delta^1$.

EDIT: I had misread the question, and thought the OP already stated the following converse to the coCartesian fibration case: if a coCartesian fibration is a localization, then it has weakly contractible fibers.

This is in fact true - let $p:E\to B$ be a coCartesian fibration. By un/straightening it corresponds to a functor $B\to \Cat, b\mapsto E_b$. Consider the left fibration $|E|_B\to B$ corresponding to the composite $B\to \Cat\xrightarrow{|-|} \Spaces$. Since there is a natural map $C\to |C|$, there is a natural map $E\to|E|_B$ lying over $B$. I claim that 1) $E\to|E|_B$ is a localization and 2) $|E|_B\to B$ is conservative.

With these two facts, we will be done. Indeed, if $E\to B$ is a localization, then by 1) $|E|_B\to B$ is also one, but it is conservative by 2) and so it must be an equivalence. But its fibers are $|E_b|$, so them being points exactly means that the fibers of $E$ are weakly contractible.

Now 2) is easy: $|E|_B\to B$ is a left fibration and left fibrations are all conservative. For 1), simply note that for $C\in \Cat$, restriction along $E\to |E|_B$ induces a map $\map(|E|_B,C)\to \map(E,C)$ which is equivalent to $\map_{/B}(|E|_B, C\times B) \to \map_{/B}(E,C\times B)$, which is in turn equivalent to $\map_{\Fun(B,Cat)}(|E_\bullet|, C) \to \map_{\Fun(B,Cat)}(E_\bullet, C)$ which is exactly the inclusion of components of all natural transformations $E_\bullet\to C$ that pointwise invert all edges in $E_\bullet$. Through unstraightening, this is saying that $|E|_B\simeq E[p^{-1}(B^\simeq)^{-1}]$.

(A reference for 1) is Hinich's Dwyer Kan localization revisited, Prop 2.1.4)

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  • $\begingroup$ This is fun because it's almost the same example as the standard one people use to show that regular epis of categories are not always universal. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 23 at 17:59
  • $\begingroup$ @MaximeRamzi: Great! Do you have references for the first two claims that 1) any coCartesian fibration which is a localization is a universal localization and 2) (co)reflexive localizations are closed under pullbacks? Or can you add some more details? I don't understand your logic in 1) and for 2), I know that faithful functors are closed under pullbacks (which are the left/right adjoints) but don't know the statement for (co)reflective localizations. $\endgroup$
    – user39598
    Commented Sep 23 at 19:02
  • $\begingroup$ For 2), I wrote this up as Prop 1.4 in this note : sites.google.com/view/maxime-ramzi-en/notes/fun-with-pushouts $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 23 at 20:04
  • $\begingroup$ For 1), tge logic is as follows : coCartesian fibrations with weakly contractible fibers are closed under pullbacks (because both "cocartesian fibration" and "weakly contractible fibers" are!), and Lurie characterizes "cocartesian fibrations that are localizations" as exactly those, so they are also closed under pullbacks, and in particular the pullback of one such is a localization (since it is a cocartesian fibration which is a localization) $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 23 at 20:05
  • $\begingroup$ @user39598 For the first: by kerodon.net/tag/02LW (and letting $U'=\operatorname{id}$), you can test whether a coCartesian fibration is a localization by testing at the fiber at every object of the base. $\endgroup$
    – Z. M
    Commented Sep 23 at 20:08

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