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Martin Brandenburg
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Cogroups in the category of groups are free

The free group $F(S)$ on a set $S$ is a cogroup in the category of groups since $\hom(F(S),G) \cong G^S$ carries a natural group structure for every group $G$. I have read that these are the only cogroups in the category of groups. This result is attributed to Kan:

Daniel M. Kan, On monoids and their dual, Bol. Soc. Mat. Mexicana (2) 3 (1958), 52–61. MR 0111035 (22 #1900)

However I have no access to this paper, and could not find it online either. Perhaps someone knows the paper and can give me a hint how to prove the result? Thanks a lot.

Martin Brandenburg
  • 63.1k
  • 13
  • 207
  • 424