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Charles Rezk
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If you have a category $C$, then you can consider the category of functors $Func(C,Sets)$ from $C$ to sets. This comes with the Yoneda functor, $C^{op}\to Func(C,Sets)$, and is a generally useful thing to think about.

In $(\infty,1)$-category land, you want to start with an $(\infty,1)$-category $S$, and build the $(\infty,1)$-category of functors $Func(S,Spaces)$ from $S$ to spaces.

Lurie is describing one way to do this. Given a quasicategory $S$, he produces a closed model category $(sSet/S, covariant)$ on the slice category $sSet/S$ which "models" this functor category.

The analogy is to the "point category" construction. Given a functor $F:C\to Sets$, you can build a category $P_F$, whose objects are pairs $(c,x)$ where $c$ is an object of $C$, and $x\in F(c)$, and maps $(c,x)\to (c',x')$ are $f:c\to c'$ in $C$ such that $Ffx=x'$. Such a thing comes with a forgetful functor $U:P_F\to C$, and one can produce an equivalence of categories $$ Func(C,Sets) \qquad \Leftrightarrow\qquad (\text{certain full subcategory of $Cat/C$}). $$ The subcategory is that of the "left Grothendick fibrations", namely functors $U:D\to C$ such that given $f:c\to c'$ in $C$ and $d\in D$ such that $U(d)=c$, there is a unique $g: d\to d'$ in $D$ such that $U(g)=f$.

So, fibrant objects in Lurie's covariant model category for $sSet/S$ are supposed to look like left Grothendieck fibrations, and this model category should model "$Func(S,Spaces)$".

Charles Rezk
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