If our
functor F:C→Set is a
forgetful functor, then the induced category of elements turns out to be the
category of “pointed
objects in
C" (ala the
category Set⋆ of pointed
sets)
For instance, consider
U:Smgrp→Set, the
forgetful functor for the
category of abelian
groups. The category of elements
∫U then has as
objects pairs
(S,x) where
S is a
monoid and
x∈S.
Morphisms (S,x)→(R,y) are semigroup-
morphisms f:S→R so that
f(x)=y.
In other words,
U consists of pointed semigroups and basepoint-preserving semigroup
morphisms. In essence,
∫U is “pointed
Smgrp"
Note that “pointed semigroup” is not to be confused with “
monoid”, and
∫U≃Monoid almost certainly doesn’t hold. The distinguished element of a
monoid is necessarily the identity, which is not the case in
∫U.