Definition 4.7.6.1. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n$ be an integer. We say that $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $n$-truncated if, for every pair of objects $X,Y \in \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, the Kan complex $\operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y)$ is $n$-truncated (see Definition 3.5.7.1).
4.7.6 Locally Truncated $\infty $-Categories
We now study $\infty $-categories where every object satisfies the requirements of Definition 4.7.1.1.
Remark 4.7.6.2. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n$ be an integer. Then $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $n$-truncated (in the sense of Definition 4.7.6.1) if and only if every object $X \in \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is $n$-truncated (in the sense of Definition 4.7.1.1).
Remark 4.7.6.3. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category. Then $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $n$-truncated if and only if the opposite $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}^{\operatorname{op}}$ is locally $n$-truncated.
Remark 4.7.6.4. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ and $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ be equivalent $\infty $-categories. Then $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $n$-truncated if and only if $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ is locally $n$-truncated. See Proposition 4.6.1.14.
Example 4.7.6.5 (Local Finality). An $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $(-2)$-truncated if and only if it is either empty or a contractible Kan complex. See Corollary 4.7.3.14.
Example 4.7.6.6 (Local Subterminality). An $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $(-1)$-truncated if and only if it is equivalent to (the nerve of) a partially ordered set. See Corollary 4.7.4.12.
Example 4.7.6.7 (Local Discreteness). An $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $0$-truncated if and only if it is equivalent to (the nerve of) an ordinary category. See Corollary 4.7.4.23.
Example 4.7.6.8. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be a locally Kan simplicial category. For every integer $n$, the following conditions are equivalent:
The homotopy coherent nerve $\operatorname{N}_{\bullet }^{\operatorname{hc}}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a locally $n$-truncated $\infty $-category
For every pair of objects $X,Y \in \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, the Kan complex $\operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y)_{\bullet }$ is $n$-truncated.
See Example 4.7.1.6.
Variant 4.7.6.9. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be a differential graded category. For every integer $n \geq -1$, the following conditions are equivalent:
The differential graded nerve $\operatorname{N}_{\bullet }^{\operatorname{dg}}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is locally $n$-truncated.
For every pair of objects $X,Y \in \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, the homology groups $\mathrm{H}_{m}( \operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y)_{\ast } )$ vanish for $m > n$.
See Example 4.7.1.8.
Example 4.7.6.10. Let $n \geq -1$ be an integer and let $X$ be a Kan complex. Then $X$ is $n$-truncated (in the sense of Definition 3.5.7.1) if and only if it is locally $(n-1)$-truncated when regarded as an $\infty $-category (in the sense of Definition 4.7.6.1). This is reformulation of Example 3.5.9.19.
Example 4.7.6.10 can be regarded as a special case of the following:
Remark 4.7.6.11. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n \geq -2$ be an integer. Then $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $n$-truncated if and only if the restriction map is surjective for every integer $m \geq n+3$. This follows immediately from Proposition 4.7.1.15. For a stronger statement, see Corollary 4.7.6.25 below.
Remark 4.7.6.12. Let $n$ be an integer. Then the collection of locally $n$-truncated $\infty $-categories is closed under products and filtered colimits. See Remark 3.5.7.6.
Definition 4.7.6.13. Let $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ be a functor of $\infty $-categories and let $n$ be an integer. We say that $F$ exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as a local $n$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ if the following conditions are satisfied:
The $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ is locally $n$-truncated.
For every locally $n$-truncated $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{E}}$, precomposition with $F$ induces an equivalence of $\infty $-categories $\operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}, \operatorname{\mathcal{E}}) \rightarrow \operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}, \operatorname{\mathcal{E}})$.
Example 4.7.6.14. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $\operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}$ be its homotopy category. Then the tautological map $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{N}_{\bullet }( \operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}} )$ exhibits $\operatorname{N}_{\bullet }( \operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}} )$ as a local $0$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$. To prove this, we must show that if $\operatorname{\mathcal{E}}$ is any locally $0$-truncated $\infty $-category, then composition with $F$ induces an equivalence of $\infty $-categories $\theta : \operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{N}_{\bullet }( \operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}} ), \operatorname{\mathcal{E}}) \rightarrow \operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}, \operatorname{\mathcal{E}})$. By virtue of Example 4.7.6.7, we may assume without loss of generality that $\operatorname{\mathcal{E}}$ is (the nerve of) an ordinary category. In this case, $\theta $ is an isomorphism of simplicial sets (Corollary 1.5.3.5).
Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n$ be an integer. It follows immediately from the definitions that if there exists a functor $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ which exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as a local $n$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, then the $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ is unique up to equivalence (Definition 4.7.6.13). For $n = 0$, the existence of $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ follows from Example 4.7.6.14. We now prove a more general existence result (Proposition 4.7.6.19), using the coskeleton construction studied in ยง3.5.3. Our starting point is the following observation:
Proposition 4.7.6.15. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category, let $n \geq 0$ be an integer, and let $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ denote the $n$-coskeleton of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ (see Notation 3.5.3.18). Then $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $(n-2)$-truncated if and only if the tautological map $\theta : \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a trivial Kan fibration.
Proof. By definition, the morphism $\theta $ is a trivial Kan fibration if and only if every lifting problem
admits a solution. For $m \leq n$ this condition is vacuous, and for $m > n$ it is a reformulation of the criterion of Remark 4.7.6.11. $\square$
Corollary 4.7.6.16. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n \geq 0$ be an integer. If $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is $n$-coskeletal, then it is locally $(n-2)$-truncated.
Corollary 4.7.6.17. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n \geq 0$ be an integer. Then the coskeleton $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a locally $(n-2)$-truncated $\infty $-category.
Proof. By virtue of Corollary 4.7.6.16, it will suffice to show that $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is an $\infty $-category. We proceed as in the proof of Proposition 3.5.3.23. Fix integers $0 < i < m$ and a morphism of simplicial sets $\sigma _0: \Lambda ^{m}_{i} \rightarrow \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$; we wish to show that $\sigma _0$ can be extended to an $m$-simplex of $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$. Using Remark 3.5.3.21, we can identify $\sigma _0$ with a morphism of simplicial sets $f_0: \operatorname{sk}_{n}( \Lambda ^{m}_{i} ) \rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$; we wish to show that $f_0$ can be extended to the $n$-skeleton of $\Delta ^{m}$. If $n < m-1$, then $\operatorname{sk}_{n}( \Lambda ^{m}_{i} ) = \operatorname{sk}_{n}( \Delta ^{m} )$ and there is nothing to prove. We may therefore assume that $n \geq m-1$, so that $\operatorname{sk}_{n}( \Lambda ^{m}_{i} ) = \Lambda ^{m}_{i}$. In this case, our assumption that $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is an $\infty $-category guarantees that $f_0$ can be extended $\Delta ^ m$ (and therefore also the the $n$-skeleton of $\Delta ^ m$). $\square$
Corollary 4.7.6.18. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n \geq 0$ be an integer. The following conditions are equivalent:
The $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $(n-2)$-truncated.
The tautological map $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a trivial Kan fibration.
The tautological map $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is an equivalence of $\infty $-categories.
There exists an $n$-coskeletal $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ which is equivalent to $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$.
Proof. The equivalence $(1) \Leftrightarrow (2)$ follows from Proposition 4.7.6.15, the implication $(2) \Rightarrow (3)$ from Corollaries 4.7.6.17 and 4.5.4.12 the implication $(3) \Rightarrow (4)$ is trivial, and the implication $(4) \Rightarrow (1)$ follows from Corollary 4.7.6.16 and Remark 4.7.6.4. $\square$
Proposition 4.7.6.19 (Existence of Local Truncations). Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category, let $n \geq 0$ be an integer, and let $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ denote the $n$-coskeleton of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ (Notation 3.5.3.18). Then the canonical map $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ exhibits $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ as a local $(n-2)$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$.
Proof. It follows from Corollary 4.7.6.17 that $\operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a locally $(n-2)$-truncated $\infty $-category. It will therefore suffice to show that, for every locally $(n-2)$-truncated $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{E}}$, precomposition with $F$ induces an equivalence of $\infty $-categories $\theta : \operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{cosk}_{n}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}), \operatorname{\mathcal{E}}) \rightarrow \operatorname{Fun}( \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}, \operatorname{\mathcal{E}})$. By virtue of Corollary 4.7.6.18, we may assume without loss of generality that $\operatorname{\mathcal{E}}$ is $n$-coskeletal. In this case, $\theta $ is an isomorphism of simplicial sets (Proposition 3.5.3.17). $\square$
Corollary 4.7.6.20. Let $n \geq -2$ be an integer, let $\operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{QCat}}$ denote the homotopy category of $\infty $-categories (Construction 4.5.1.1), and let $\operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{QCat}}'$ be the full subcategory spanned by the locally $n$-truncated $\infty $-categories. Then the inclusion functor $\operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{QCat}}' \hookrightarrow \operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{QCat}}$ admits a left adjoint, given on objects by the construction $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\mapsto \operatorname{cosk}_{n+2}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$.
For a more refined statement, see Variant 6.2.2.13.
Warning 4.7.6.21. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category. We have now given two constructions of a local $0$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$:
According to Example 4.7.6.14, the (nerve of the) homotopy category $\operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}$ is a local $0$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$.
According to Proposition 4.7.6.19, the $2$-coskeleton $\operatorname{cosk}_{2}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ is a local $0$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$.
Beware that the $\infty $-categories $\operatorname{cosk}_{2}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ and $\operatorname{N}_{\bullet }( \operatorname {h}\! \mathit{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}} )$ are generally not isomorphic as simplicial sets (though they are necessarily equivalent as $\infty $-categories. since they are characterized by the same universal property).
Corollary 4.7.6.22. Let $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ be a functor of $\infty $-categories and let $n \geq -2$ be an integer. Assume that $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is a Kan complex. The following conditions are equivalent:
The functor $F$ exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as a local $n$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ (in the sense of Definition 4.7.6.13).
The $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ is a Kan complex and $F$ exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as an $(n+1)$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ (in the sense of Definition 3.5.7.20).
Proof. Assume that condition $(1)$ is satisfied. By virtue of Proposition 4.7.6.19, we may assume without loss of generality that $F$ is the canonical map from $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ to its $(n+2)$-coskeleton $\operatorname{cosk}_{n+2}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$. In this case, assertion $(2)$ follows from Proposition 3.5.3.23 and Example 3.5.7.24. The reverse implication follows by a similar argument. $\square$
Warning 4.7.6.23. For $n = -3$, the statement of Corollary 4.7.6.22 is not quite true as stated. The identity map $\operatorname{id}: \emptyset \rightarrow \emptyset $ satisfies condition $(1)$, but does not satisfy condition $(2)$.
Corollary 4.7.6.24. Let $n \geq -2$ be an integer and let $F: \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}\rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ be a functor of $\infty $-categories which exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as a local $n$-truncation of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$. Then, for every pair of objects $X,Y \in \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, the induced map $F_{X,Y}: \operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y) \rightarrow \operatorname{Hom}_{ \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}}( F(X), F(Y) )$ exhibits the Kan complex $\operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}}( F(X), F(Y) )$ as an $n$-truncation of $\operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y)$, in the sense of Definition 3.5.7.20.
See Proposition 4.8.4.10 for a partial converse.
Proof of Corollary 4.7.6.24. Our assumption on $F$ guarantees that the Kan complex $\operatorname{Hom}_{ \operatorname{\mathcal{D}}}( F(X), F(Y) )$ is $n$-truncated. It will therefore suffice to show that $F_{X,Y}$ is $(n+1)$-connective, or equivalently that the map of left-pinched morphism spaces $\theta : \operatorname{Hom}^{\mathrm{L}}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y) \rightarrow \operatorname{Hom}^{\mathrm{L}}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}}( F(X), F(Y))$ is $(n+1)$-connective (Proposition 4.6.5.10). By virtue of Proposition 4.7.6.19, we may assume without loss of generality that $F$ exhibits $\operatorname{\mathcal{D}}$ as an $(n+2)$-coskeleton of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ and is therefore bijective on simplices of dimension $\leq n+2$. In this case, $\theta $ is bijective on simplices of dimension $\leq n+1$, so the desired result follows from Corollary 3.5.2.2. $\square$
Corollary 4.7.6.25. Let $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ be an $\infty $-category and let $n \geq 0$ be an integer. The following conditions are equivalent:
For every morphism $f: X \rightarrow Y$ of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$, the set $\pi _{n}( \operatorname{Hom}_{\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}}(X,Y), f)$ consists of a single element.
Every diagram $\operatorname{\partial \Delta }^{n+2} \rightarrow \operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ can be extended to an $(n+2)$-simplex of $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$.
Proof. By virtue of Corollary 4.7.6.24, we can replace $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ by $\operatorname{cosk}_{n+2}(\operatorname{\mathcal{C}})$ and thereby reduce to the case where the $\infty $-category $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is $(n+2)$-coskeletal, and therefore locally $n$-truncated. In this case, condition $(1)$ is satisfied if and only if $\operatorname{\mathcal{C}}$ is locally $(n-1)$-truncated. The equivalence $(1) \Leftrightarrow (2)$ now follows from the criterion of Remark 4.7.6.11. $\square$