The Nonchiral Fusion Rules in Rational Conformal Field Theories

We introduce a general method in order to construct the nonchiral fusion rules which determine the operator content of the operator product algebra for rational conformal field theories. We are particularly interested in the models of the complementary D-like solutions of the modular invariant partition functions with cyclic center Z _N . We find that the nonchiral fusion rules have a Z _N -grading structure.     

New boundary conformal field theories indexed by the simply laced Lie algebras

We consider the field theory of N massless bosons which are free except for an interaction localized on the boundary of their (1+1)-dimensional world. The boundary action is the sum of two pieces: a periodic potential and a coupling to a uniform abelian gauge field. Such models arise in open-string theory and dissipative quantum mechanics, and possibly in edge state tunneling in the fractional quantized Hall effect. We explicitly show that conformal invariance is unbroken for certain special choices of the gauge field and the periodic potential. These special cases are naturally indexed by semi-simple, simply laced Lie algebras. For each such algebra, we have a discrete series of conformally invariant theories where the potential and gauge field are conveniently given in terms of the weight lattice of the algebra. We compute the exact boundary state for these theories, which explicitly shows the group structure. The partition function and correlation functions are easily computed using the boundary state result.     

c=3, N=2 超共形场论的Z2 Orbifold-Prime模型

讨论了二维环面上中心荷c=3, N=2 的超共形场论. 特别给出该理论的配分函数. 进一步,为了产生新的模型,回顾了一般的orbifold方法. 然后构造了模不变的Z2 Orbifold-Prime模型.     

Space-time geometry of topological phases

The 2 + 1 dimensional lattice models of Levin and Wen (2005) [1] provide the most general known microscopic construction of topological phases of matter. Based heavily on the mathematical structure of category theory, many of the special properties of these models are not obvious. In the current paper, we present a geometrical space-time picture of the partition function of the Levin-Wen models which can be described as doubles (two copies with opposite chiralities) of underlying anyon theories. Our space-time picture describes the partition function as a knot invariant of a complicated link, where both the lattice variables of the microscopic Levin-Wen model and the terms of the Hamiltonian are represented as labeled strings of this link. This complicated link, previously studied in the mathematical literature, and known as Chain-Mail, can be related directly to known topological invariants of 3-manifolds such as the so-called Turaev-Viro invariant and the Witten-Reshitikhin-Turaev invariant. We further consider quasi-particle excitations of the Levin-Wen models and we see how they can be understood by adding additional strings to the Chain-Mail link representing quasi-particle world-lines. Our construction gives particularly important new insight into how a doubled theory arises from these microscopic models.     

Topological Entanglement Entropy from the Holographic Partition Function

We study the entropy of chiral 2+01-dimensional topological phases, where there are both gapped bulk excitations and gapless edge modes. We show how the entanglement entropy of both types of excitations can be encoded in a single partition function. This partition function is holographic because it can be expressed entirely in terms of the conformal field theory describing the edge modes. We give a general expression for the holographic partition function, and discuss several examples in depth, including abelian and non-abelian fractional quantum Hall states, and $p+ip$ superconductors. We extend these results to include a point contact allowing tunneling between two points on the edge, which causes thermodynamic entropy associated with the point contact to be lost with decreasing temperature. Such a perturbation effectively breaks the system in two, and we can identify the thermodynamic entropy loss with the loss of the edge entanglement entropy. From these results, we obtain a simple interpretation of the non-integer ‘ground state degeneracy’ which is obtained in 1+1-dimensional quantum impurity problems: its logarithm is a 2+1-dimensional topological entanglement entropy.     

Z/NZ Conformal Field Theories

We compute the modular properties of the possible genus-one characters of some Rational Conformal Field Theories starting from their fusion rules. We show that the possible choices ofS matrices are indexed by some automorphisms of the fusion algebra. We also classify the modular invariant partition functions of these theories. This gives the complete list of modular invariant partition functions of Rational Conformal Field Theories with respect to theA _N ⁽¹⁾ level one algebra.Unité propre de Recherche du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, associée à l'Ècole Normale Supérieure et à l'Université de Paris-Sud     

On modular invariant partition functions for tensor products of conformal field theories

We give two results concerning the construction of modular invariant partition functions for conformal field theories constructed by tensoring together other conformal field theories. First we show how the possible modular invariants for the tensor product theory are constrained if the allowed modular invariants of the individual conformal field theory factors have been classified. We illustrate the use of these constraints for theories of the type SU(2)_KASU(2)_KB, finding all consistent theories for K_A, K_B odd. Second we show how known diagonal modular invariants can be used to construct some inherently asymmetric ones where the holomorphic and antiholomorphic theories do not share the same chiral algebra. Some explicit examples are given.     

Affine Orbifolds and Rational Conformal Field Theory Extensions of W 1+∞

Chiral orbifold models are defined as gauge field theories with a finite gauge group Γ. We start with a conformal current algebra associated with a connected compact Lie group G and a negative definite integral invariant bilinear form on its Lie algebra. Any finite group Γ of inner automorphisms or (in particular, any finite subgroup of G) gives rise to a gauge theory with a chiral subalgebra of local observables invariant under Γ. A set of positive energy modules is constructed whose characters span, under some assumptions on Γ, a finite dimensional unitary representation of . We compute their asymptotic dimensions (thus singling out the nontrivial orbifold modules) and find explicit formulae for the modular transformations and hence, for the fusion rules. As an application we construct a family of rational conformal field theory (RCFT) extensions of W _1+∞ that appear to provide a bridge between two approaches to the quantum Hall effect. Received: 5 December 1996 / Accepted: 1 April 1997     

The spin-1/2XXZ Heisenberg chain,the quantum algebra Uq[sl(2)], and duality transformations for minimal models

The finite-size scaling spectra of the spin-1/2XXZ Heisenberg chain with toroidal boundary conditions and an even number of sites provide a projection mechanism yielding the spectra of models with a central chargec < 1, including the unitary and nonunitary minimal series. Taking into account the half-integer angular momentum sectors—which correspond to chains with an odd number of sites—in many cases leads to new spinor operators appearing in the projected systems. These new sectors in theXXZ chain correspond to new types of frustration lines in the projected minimal models. The corresponding new boundary conditions in the Hamiltonian limit are investigated for the Ising model and the 3-state Potts model and are shown to be related to duality transformations which are an additional symmetry at their self-dual critical point. By different ways of projecting systems we find models with the same central charge sharing the same operator content and modular invariant partition function which, however, differ in the distribution of operators into sectors and hence in the physical meaning of the operators involved. Related to the projection mechanism in the continuum there are remarkable symmetry properties of the finiteXXZ chain. The observed degeneracies in the energy and momentum spectra are shown to be the consequence of intertwining relations involvingU _q [sl(2)] quantum algebra transformations.     

Stable hierarchical quantum Hall fluids as W1+∞ minimal models

In this paper, we pursue our analysis of the W_1+∞ symmetry of the low-energy edge excitations of incompressible quantum Hall fluids. These excitations are described by (1 + 1)-dimensional effective field theories, which are built by representations of the W_1+∞ algebra. Generic W_1+∞ theories predict many more fluids than the few, stable ones found in experiments. Here we identify a particular class of W_1+∞ theories, the minimal models, which are made of degenerate representations only - a familiar construction in conformal field theory. The W_1+∞ minimal models exist for specific values of the fractional Hall conductivity, which nicely fit the experimental data and match the results of the Jain hierarchy of quantum Hall fluids. We thus obtain a new hierarchical construction, which is based uniquely on the concept of quantum incompressible fluid and is independent of Jain's approach and hypotheses. Furthermore, a surprising non-abelian structure is found in the W_1+∞ minimal models: they possess neutral quark-like excitations with SU(m) quantum numbers and non-abelian fractional statistics. The physical electron is made of anyon and quark excitations. We discuss some properties of these neutral excitations which could be seen in experiments and numerical simulations.     

Construction of modular branching functions from Bethe's equations in the 3-state Potts chain

We use the single-particle excitation energies and the completeness rules of the 3-state antiferromagnetic Potts chain, which have been obtained from Bethe's equation, to compute the modular invariant partition function. This provides a fermionic construction for the branching functions of theD ₄ representation ofZ ₄ parafermions which complements the bosonic constructions. It is found that there are oscillations in some of the correlations and a new connection with the field theory of the Lee-Yang edge is presented.     

Free Bosonic Vertex Operator Algebras on Genus Two Riemann Surfaces I

We define the partition and n-point functions for a vertex operator algebra on a genus two Riemann surface formed by sewing two tori together. We obtain closed formulas for the genus two partition function for the Heisenberg free bosonic string and for any pair of simple Heisenberg modules. We prove that the partition function is holomorphic in the sewing parameters on a given suitable domain and describe its modular properties for the Heisenberg and lattice vertex operator algebras and a continuous orbifolding of the rank two fermion vertex operator super algebra. We compute the genus two Heisenberg vector n-point function and show that the Virasoro vector one point function satisfies a genus two Ward identity for these theories.     

Automorphism modular invariants of current algebras

We consider those two-dimensional rational conformal field theories (RCFTs) whose chiral algebras, when maximally extended, are isomorphic to the current algebra formed from some untwisted affine Lie algebra at fixed level. In this case the partition function is specified by an automorphism of the fusion ring and corresponding symmetry of the Kac-Peterson modular matrices. We classify all such partition functions when the underlying finite-dimensional Lie algebra is simple. This gives all possible spectra for this class of RCFTs. While accomplishing this, we also find the primary fields with second smallest quantum dimension.Supported in part by NSERC.     

Chiral deformations of conformal field theories

We study general perturbations of two-dimensional conformal field theories by holomorphic fields. It is shown that the genus one partition function is controlled by a contact term (pre-Lie) algebra given in terms of the operator product expansion. These models have applications to vertex operator algebras, two-dimensional QCD, topological strings, holomorphic anomaly equations and modular properties of generalized characters of chiral algebras such as the W_1+∞ algebra, that is treated in detail.     

Spin and Abelian Electromagnetic Duality¶on Four-Manifolds

We investigate the electromagnetic duality properties of an Abelian gauge theory on a compact oriented four-manifold by analysing the behaviour of a generalised partition function under modular transformations of the dimensionless coupling constants. The true partition function is invariant under the full modular group but the generalised partition function exhibits more complicated behaviour depending on topological properties of the four-manifold concerned. It is already known that there may be “modular weights” which are linear combinations of the Euler number and Hirzebruch signature of the four-manifold. But sometimes the partition function transforms only under a subgroup of the modular group (the Hecke subgroup). In this case it is impossible to define real spinor wave-functions on the four-manifold. But complex spinors are possible provided the background magnetic fluxes are appropriately fractional rather than integral. This gives rise to a second partition function which enables the full modular group to be realised by permuting the two partition functions, together with a third. Thus the full modular group is realised in all cases. The demonstration makes use of various constructions concerning integral lattices and theta functions that seem to be of intrinsic interest. Received: 5 June 2000 / Accepted: 9 October 2000