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1 of 3
Jesse Wolfson
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(Homotopy theory) When does the 2 of 3 property not imply 2 of 6?

A relative category is a category $C$ with a subcategory $W$ containing all the objects of $C$.

Given a relative category $(C,W)$, $W$ is said to satisfy the ``2 implies 6'' property if, for any collection of three composable maps,

$$X\rightarrow Y\rightarrow Z\rightarrow A$$

the presence of the composites $X\rightarrow A$ and $Y\rightarrow A$ in $W$ implies that each individual map is in $W$ (and so also the triple composition).

The property I'm more familiar with from thinking about weak equivalences is the ``2 implies 3" property, which says that, given a pair of composable maps

$$X\rightarrow Y\rightarrow Z$$

the presence of any two of the maps

$$X\rightarrow Y$$ $$Y\rightarrow Z$$ $$X\rightarrow Z$$

in $W$ implies that the third is as well.

The "2 implies 6" property implies the "2 implies 3" property, and I've been told that "2 implies 6" is a strictly stronger property.

QUESTION: What is the basic example of a relative category $(C,W)$ where $W$ satisfies "2 implies 3", but "2 implies 6"?

Jesse Wolfson
  • 1.1k
  • 5
  • 16