Monads, partial evaluations, and rewriting

Monads can be interpreted as encoding formal expressions, or formal operations in the sense of universal algebra. We give a construction which formalizes the idea of "evaluating an expression partially": for example, "2+3" can be obtained as a partial evaluation of "2+2+1". This construction can be given for any monad, and it is linked to the famous bar construction, of which it gives an operational interpretation: the bar construction induces a simplicial set, and its 1-cells are partial evaluations. We study the properties of partial evaluations for general monads. We prove that whenever the monad is weakly cartesian, partial evaluations can be composed via the usual Kan filler property of simplicial sets, of which we give an interpretation in terms of substitution of terms. In terms of rewritings, partial evaluations give an abstract reduction system which is reflexive, confluent, and transitive whenever the monad is weakly cartesian. For the case of probability monads, partial evaluations correspond to what probabilists call conditional expectation of random variables. This manuscript is part of a work in progress on a general rewriting interpretation of the bar construction.Comment: Originally written for the ACT Adjoint School 2019. To appear in Proceedings of MFPS 202

On the axiomatization of convex subsets of Banach spaces

We prove that any convex-like structure in the sense of Nate Brown is affinely and isometrically isomorphic to a closed convex subset of a Banach space. This answers an open question of Brown. As an intermediate step, we identify Brown's algebraic axioms as equivalent to certain well-known axioms of abstract convexity. We conclude with a new characterization of convex subsets of Banach spaces.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. v3: added post-publication note on missing reference with partly overlapping materia

Fractional Branes on a Non-compact Orbifold

Fractional branes on the non-compact orbifold \C^3/\Z_5 are studied. First, the boundary state description of the fractional branes are obtained. The open-string Witten index calculated using these states reproduces the adjacency matrix of the quiver of $\Z_5$. Then, using the toric crepant resolution of the orbifold \C^3/\Z_5 and invoking the local mirror principle, B-type branes wrapped on the holomorphic cycles of the resolution are studied. The boundary states corresponding to the five fractional branes are identified as bound states of BPS D-branes wrapping the 0-, 2- and 4-cycles in the exceptional divisor of the resolution of \C^3/\Z_5.Comment: Latex2e, 25 pages, typos corrected, minor modifications, version to appear in JHE