Abstract

This paper generalises and adapts the theory of sheaves on a topological space to sheaves on a relational space: a topological space with a binary relation. The relational bundles on a relational space are defined as the continuous, relation-preserving functions into the space, and the relational sections of a relational bundle are defined as the relation-preserving partial sections. This defines a functor to the category of presheaves on the space, which has a left adjoint. The presheaves which arise as the relational sections of a relational bundle are characterised by separation and patching conditions similar to those of a sheaf: we call them the relational sheaves. The relational bundles which arise from presheaves are characterised by local homeomorphism conditions: we call them the local relational homeomorphisms. The adjunction restricts to an equivalence between the categories of relational sheaves and local relational homeomorphisms. The paper goes on to investigate the structure of these equivalent categories. They are shown to be quasi-toposes (thus modelling firstorder logic), and to have enough structure to model a certain firstorder modal logic described in a companion paper. 1

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