Derivators, pointed derivators and stable derivators

Abstract

We develop some aspects of the theory of derivators, pointed derivators and stable derivators. Stable derivators are shown to canonically take values in triangulated categories. Similarly, the functors belonging to a stable derivator are canonically exact so that stable derivators are an enhancement of triangulated categories. We also establish a similar result for additive derivators in the context of pretriangulated categories. Along the way, we simplify the notion of a pointed derivator, reformulate the base change axiom and give a new proof that a combinatorial model category has an underlying derivator.