with central chargeN

We study representations of the central extension of the Lie algebra of differential operators on the circle, the algebra. We obtain complete and specialized character formulas for a large class of representations, which we call primitive; these include all quasi-finite irreducible unitary representations. We show that any primitive representation with central chargeN has a canonical structure of an irreducible representation of the with the same central charge and that all irreducible representations of with central chargeN arise in this way. We also establish a duality between integral modules of and finite-dimensional irreducible modules ofgl _N , and conjecture their fusion rules.Supported by a Junior Fellowship from Harvard Society of Fellows and in part by NSF grant DMS-9205303.Supported in part by NSF grant DMS-9103792.