ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Locally acyclic morphism

Okay, imagine you have two sets of toys. Let's call one set A and the other set B. Now, you have a way to connect certain toys from set A to toys from set B. This way of connecting the toys is called a morphism.

Now, a morphism is called locally acyclic if it is a very special kind of connection. It means that if you start with a toy in set A and follow the connection to a toy in set B, and then follow another connection from that toy in set B to a different toy in set A, you will never end up back where you started. It's like going on a journey with your toys and never coming back to the same place.

This concept of locally acyclic morphism is important because it helps us understand how different sets of toys are related to each other. It tells us that there are no loops or circles in the connections we can make between the toys. Instead, we can think of it as a one-way street, where we can go from set A to set B, but we can't come back to set A from set B through the same connection.

Locally acyclic morphisms are useful in many areas of math and science. They help us study how different things are connected to each other and find patterns in their relationships. So, next time you play with your toys, you can think about how they are connected in a locally acyclic way, just like the special kind of connections mathematicians study!