Variety (universal Algebra)
In mathematics, specifically universal algebra, a variety of algebras is the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature satisfying a given set of identities. Equivalently, a variety is a class of algebraic structures of the same signature which is closed under the taking of homomorphic images, subalgebras and (direct) products. In the context of category theory, a variety of algebras is usually called a finitary algebraic category.
A covariety is the class of all coalgebraic structures of a given signature.
A variety of algebras should not be confused with an algebraic variety. Intuitively, a variety of algebras is an equationally defined collection of algebras, while an algebraic variety is an equationally defined collection of elements from a single algebra. The two are named alike by analogy, but they are formally quite distinct and their theories have little in common.
Read more about Variety (universal Algebra): Birkhoff's Theorem, Examples, Pseudovariety of Finite Algebras, Category Theory
Famous quotes containing the word variety:
“To invent without scruple a new principle to every new phenomenon, instead of adapting it to the old; to overload our hypothesis with a variety of this kind, are certain proofs that none of these principles is the just one, and that we only desire, by a number of falsehoods, to cover our ignorance of the truth.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)