Latent Fibrations: Fibrations for Categories of Partial Maps

Abstract: Latent fibrations are an adaptation, appropriate for categories of partial maps (as presented by restriction categories), of the usual notion of fibration. The paper initiates the development of the basic theory of latent fibrations and explores some key examples. Latent fibrations cover a wide variety of examples, some of which are partial versions of standard fibrations, and some of which are particular to partial map categories (particularly those that arise in computational settings). Latent fibrations with various special properties are identified: hyperconnected latent fibrations, in particular, are shown to support the construction of a fibrational dual; this is important to reverse differential programming and, more generally, in the theory of lenses.