Abstract
We give a solid theoretical grounding to the observation that cubical structures arise naturally when working with parametricity. More precisely, we claim that cubical models are cofreely parametric.
We use categories, lex categories or clans as models of type theory. In this context we define notions of parametricity as monoidal models, and parametric models as modules. This covers not only the usual parametricity where any type comes with a relation, but also variants where it comes with a predicate, a reflexive relation, two relations, and many more.
In this setting we prove that forgetful functors from parametric models to arbitrary ones have left and right adjoints. Moreover we give explicit compact descriptions for these freely and cofreely parametric models. Then we give many examples of notion of parametricity, allowing to build the following as cofreely parametric models:
* Categories of cubical objects for any variant of cube.
* Lex categories of truncated semi-cubical (or cubical with reflexivities) objects.
* Clans of Reedy fibrant semi-cubical (or cubical with reflexivities) objects.
