TITLE: The category of compact metric spaces
QUESTION [35 upvotes]: Let us denote by $(\mathrm{CompMet})$ the category of compact metric spaces with Lipschitz maps as morphisms. I'm interested in properties of this category. It seems to me that it has finite products (take the usual cartesian product with the maximum metric) and equalizers (just restrict the metric), thus all finite limits. Is there a rigorous proof that infinite products don't exist? Note that the forgetful functor $(\mathrm{CompMet}) \to (\mathrm{Set})$ is representable (by the point), therefore preserves all limits. In particular, the underlying set of an infinite product has to be usual cartesian product.
As for colimits, I think that finite coproducts exist. The empty coproduct is the empty space. The coproduct of two compact metric spaces $X,Y$ has as underlying set the disjoint union $X \coprod Y$. The distance is defined as follows: For two points in $X$ or in $Y$ use the metrics of $X$ and $Y$. For $x \in X$, $y \in Y$, define $d(x,y):=c$ for a constant $c$ which is at least $\max(diam(X),diam(Y))/2$. Then we get a metric space and the universal property may be verified. Meanwhile I have checked the details; do you know a reference for this construction? (Here it is crucial that we work with Lipschitz maps. I think the notion of Gromov-Hausdorff distance is all about the failure of the category of compact metric spaces with isometries as morphisms having coproducts?)
Now what about infinite coproducts or just coequalizers? Remark that the category of compact Hausdorff spaces has arbitrary colimits, although the forgetful functor to topological spaces doesn't preserve them. Here the Stone-Cech-compactification is crucial. Therefore a related question: Does the forgetful functor $(\mathrm{CompMet}) \to (\mathrm{Set})$ has a left adjoint?

REPLY [4 votes]: Infinite coproducts do not exist.  For instance, suppose $C$ were a coproduct of countably infinitely many $1$-point spaces.  The inclusion maps of these $1$-point spaces then give a sequence $(x_n)$ of points of $C$.  Since $C$ is compact, some subsequence $(x_{n_k})$ must converge.  But now you can just take any compact metric space $Y$ with a sequence $(y_k)$ which does not converge.  By the universal property of $C$, there must be a Lipschitz map $C\to Y$ which sends $x_{n_k}$ to $y_k$ (and the $x_n$ which are not of the form $x_{n_k}$ to wherever you want in $Y$).  But there does not even exist such a map which is continuous, since $(x_{n_k})$ converges and $(y_k)$ does not.  (This example also shows the forgetful functor to Sets has no left adjoint, since such a left adjoint would need to send $\mathbb{N}$ to such a coproduct.)
Coequalizers do exist.  Indeed, it is easier to just show that quotients by arbitrary equivalence relations exist.  Quotients by arbitrary equivalence relations exist in the category of metric spaces and Lipschitz maps with Lipschitz constant $1$ (for instance, see this answer of mine on MO), and a quotient of a compact metric space is compact since the quotient map is surjective.  These quotients have the same universal property when you allow Lipschitz maps with arbitrary Lipschitz constant, since a map $f:X\to Y$ is Lipschitz with constant $K$ iff it is Lipschitz with constant $1$ when you rescale the metric on $Y$ by $1/K$.