Kan Extension Transformers: A Categorical Unification of Attention, Diffusion, and Predict-Detach Self-Conditioning
We propose Kan Extension Transformers (KETs) as a categorical design language for a diverse group of Transformer implementations. A layer can be viewed generally as a weighted structured extension operator: attention uses token neighborhoods, geometric mixing uses sparse incidences, and KET uses simplicial sources. This operator is an actual enriched left Kan extension only when the source values are functorial, the weights are representable hom-objects (or the specified profunctor action), and aggregation realizes the corresponding coend; otherwise ``Kan-style'' denotes an interpretation rather than an identity theorem. Predict-detach blocks gradients through a predictive carrier and avo...
| Authors | Sridhar Mahadevan |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.LG |
| Published | 26 May 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 25 July 2026 |
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