The Ehresmann-Schein-Nambooripad Theorem for Inverse Categories

Abstract: The Ehresmann-Schein-Nambooripad (ESN) Theorem asserts an equivalence between the category of inverse semigroups and the category of inductive groupoids. In this paper, we consider the category of inverse categories and functors -- a natural generalization of inverse semigroups -- and extend the ESN theorem to an equivalence between this category and the category of top-heavy locally inductive groupoids and locally inductive functors. From the proof of this extension, we also generalize the ESN Theorem to an equivalence between the category of inverse semicategories and the category of locally inductive groupoids and to an equivalence between the category of inverse categories with oplax functors and the category of top-heavy locally inductive groupoids and ordered functors.