Modular invariance and the spectrum of two dimensional conformal field theories

Modular invariance has recently emerged as a powerful tool in conformal field theory. In conjunction with the representation theory of infinite dimensional Lie algebras, the study of modular invariance gave the spectrum of several families of theories. These include the minimal conformal models (Cardy and others), WZW theories which describe string propagation on group manifolds (Gepner and Witten) and parafermionic field theories (Gepner and Qiu). The minimal conformal models models were shown to be a product of two SU(2) WZW theories (Gepner). These results represent a step towards a complete classification of conformal field theories, an important goal both for the study of critical phenomena and string theory.     

Weyl fields,quantum integrability and conformal invariant field theories

We show that some Weyl field theories arise as a quantum “linear” problem associated to some Kac-Moody algebras. We relate this quantum “linear” problem to the conformal invariant field theories studied by Dashen and Frishman and to the WZW field theory.     

Path integral formulation of the conformal Wess-Zumino-Witten → Toda reductions

The phase space path integral Wess-Zumino-Witten → Toda reductions are formulated in a manifestly conformally invariant way. For this purpose, the method of Batalin, Fradkin, and Vilkovisky, adapted to conformal field theories, with chiral constraints, on compact two-dimensional Riemannian manifolds, is used. It is shown that the zero-modes of the Lagrange multipliers produce the Toda potential and the gradients produce the WZW anomaly. This anomaly is crucial for proving the Fradkin-Vilkovisky theorem concerning gauge invariance.     

Exactly soluble diffeomorphism invariant theories

A class of diffeomorphism invariant theories is described for which the Hilbert space of quantum states can be explicitly constructed. These theories can be formulated in any dimension and include Witten's solution to 2+1 dimensional gravity as a special case. Higher dimensional generalizations exist which start with an action similar to the Einstein action inn dimensions. Many of these theories do not involve a spacetime metric and provide examples of topological quantum field theories. One is a version of Yang-Mills theory in which the only quantum states onS ³×R are the vacua. Finally it is shown that the three dimensional Chern-Simons theory (which Witten has shown is intimately connected with knot theory) arises naturally from a four dimensional topological gauge theory.On leave from the Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA     

Lattice Wess-Zumino-Witten model and quantum groups

Quantum groups play the role of symmetries of integrable theories in two dimensions. They may be detected on the classical level as Poisson-Lie symmetries of the corresponding phase spaces. We discuss specifically the Wess-Zumino-Witten conformally invariant quantum field model combining two chiral parts which describe the left- and right-moving degrees of freedom. On one hand, the quantum group plays the role of the symmetry of the chiral components of the theory. On the other hand, the model admits a lattice regularization (in Minkowski space) in which the current algebra symmetry of the theory also becomes quantum, providing the simplest example of a quantum group symmetry coupling space-time and internal degrees of freedom. We develop a free field approach to the representation theory of the lattice sl (2)-based current algebra and show how to use it to rigorously construct an exact solution of the quantum SL (2) WZW model on lattice.     

SU(2) Chern-Simons theory at genus zero

We present a detailed study of the Schrödinger picture space of states in theSU(2) Chern-Simons topological gauge theory in the simplest geometry. The space coincides with that of the solutions of the chiral Ward identities for the WZW model. We prove that its dimension is given by E. Verlinde's formulae.     

Holomorphic Chern-Simons-Witten theory: From 2D to 4D conformal field theories

It is well known that rational 2D conformal field theories are connected with Chern-Simons theories defined on 3D real manifolds. We consider holomorphic analogues of Chern-Simons theories defined on 3D complex manifolds (six real dimensions) and describe 4D conformal field theories connected with them. All these models are integrable. We describe analogues of the Virasoro and affine Lie algebras, the local action of which on fields of holomorphic analogues of Chern-Simons theories becomes non-local after pushing down to the action on fields of integrable 4D conformal field theories. Quantization of integrable 4D conformal field theories and relations to string theories are briefly discussed.     

q → ∞ limit of the quasitriangular WZW model

Abstract

We study the q → ∞ limit of the q-deformation of the WZW model on a compact simple and simply connected target Lie group. We show that the commutation relations of the q → ∞ current algebra are underlied by certain affine Poisson structure on the group of holomorphic maps from the disc into the complexification of the target group. The Lie algebroid corresponding to this affine Poisson structure can be integrated to a global symplectic groupoid which turns out to be nothing but the phase space of the q → ∞ limit of the q-WZW model. We also show that this symplectic grupoid admits a chiral decomposition compatible with its (anomalous) Poisson-Lie symmetries. Finally, we dualize the chiral theory in a remarkable way and we evaluate the exchange relations for the q → ∞ chiral WZW fields in both the original and the dual pictures.     

Conformal field theory on the horizon of a BTZ black hole

In a three-dimensional spacetime with negative cosmological constant, general relativity can be written as two copies of SO(2,1) Chern-Simons theory. On a manifold with a boundary, the Chern-Simons theory induces a conformal field theory—Wess-Zumino-Witten theory on the boundary. In this paper, it is shown that with suitable boundary conditions for a Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli black hole, the Wess-Zumino-Witten theory can reduce to a chiral massless scalar field on the horizon.     

A new approach to spontaneously broken conformal symmetry

In this paper we present a new method for constructing theories of gravitation which exhibit spontaneously broken conformal symmetry. It does not require introducing nongeometric terms (i.e., auxiliary gauge fields or potential terms for the conformal field) into the Lagrangian. It is based on a theory which initially is locally both Lorentz invariant and Weyl gauge invariant inD dimensions. It is shown that, if the field Lagrangian contains terms quadratic in curvature in addition to the Ricci scalar, then the field equations allow both the dilation field and some connection components to have nonvanishing vacuum values. Both Lorentz and Weyl symmetries are thereby broken simultaneously.     

On holomorphic factorization of WZW and coset models

It is shown how coupling to gauge fields can be used to explain the basic facts concerning holomorphic factorization of the WZW model of two dimensional conformal field theory, which previously have been understood primarily by using conformal field theory Ward identities. We also consider in a similar vein the holomorphic factorization ofG/H coset models. We discuss theG/G model as a topological field theory and comment on a conjecture by Spiegelglas.Research supported in part by NSF Grant PHY86-20266     

Two-dimensional Lorentz-Weyl anomaly and gravitational Chern-Simons theory

Two-dimensional chiral fermions and bosons, more generally conformal blocks of two-dimensional conformal field theories, exhibit Weyl-, Lorentz- and mixed Lorentz-Weyl anomalies. A novel way of computing these anomalies for a system of chiral bosons of arbitrary conformal spinj is sketched. It is shown that the Lorentz- and mixed Lorentz-Weyl anomalies of these theories can be cancelled by the anomalies of a three-dimensional classical Chern-Simons action for the spin connection, expressed in terms of the dreibein field. Some tentative applications of this result to string theory are indicated.     

Simple WZW currents

A complete classification of simple currents of WZW theories is obtained. The proof is based on an analysis of the quantum dimensions of the primary fields. Simple currents are precisely the primaries with unit quantum dimension; for WZW theories explicit formulae for the quantum dimensions can be derived so that an identification of the fields with unit quantum dimension is possible.     

Topological Chern—Simons vortices in the O (3) σ -model

Based on the phase-space path integral (functional integral) for a system with a regular or singular Lagrangian, the generalized Ward identities for phase space generating functional under the global transformation in phase space are derived respectively. The canonical Noether theorem at the quantum level is also established. It is pointed out that the connection between the symmetries and conservation laws in classical theories, in general,is no longer preserved in quantum theories. The advantage of our formulation is that we do not need to carry out the integration over the canonical momenta as usually performed. Applying the present formulation to Yang-Mills theory, the quantal BRS conserved quantity and Ward-Takahashi identity for BRS tranformation are derived; the Ward identities for gaugeghost proper vertices and new quantal conserved quantity are also found. In comparison of quantal conservation laws with those one deriving from configuration-space path integral using the Faddeev-Popov(F-P) trick is discussed. A precise study of path-integral quantisation for a nonlinear sigma model with Hopf and Chern-Simons (CS) terms is reexamined. It has been shown that the angular momentum at the quantum level is equal to classical (Noether ) one. Applying our formulation to non-Abelian CS theory, the quantal conserved angular momentum of this system is obtained which differs from classical one in that one needs to take into account the contribution of angular momenta of ghost fields.     

Chern-Simons gauge theory on orbifolds: Open strings from three dimensions

Chern-Simons gauge theory is formulated on three-dimensional $\text{Z}$₂ orbifolds. The locus of singular points on a given orbifold is equivalent to a link of Wilson lines. This allows one to reduce any correlation function on orbifolds to a sum of more complicated correlation functions in the simpler theory on manifolds. Chern-Simons theory on manifolds is known to be related to two-dimensional (2D) conformal field theory (CFT) on closed-string surfaces; here it is shown that the theory on orbifolds is related to 2D CFT of unoriented closed- and open-string models, i.e. to worldsheet orbifold models. In particular, the boundary components of the worldsheet correspond to the components of the singular locus in the 3D orbifold. This correspondence leads to a simple identification of the open-string spectra, including their Chan-Paton degeneration, in terms of fusing Wilson lines in the corresponding Chern-Simons theory. The correspondence is studied in detail, and some exactly solvable examples are presented. Some of these examples indicate that it is natural to think of the orbifold group $\text{Z}$₂ as a part of the gauge group of the Chern-Simons theory, thus generalizing the standard definition of gauge theories.     

Infinite conformal symmetry of critical fluctuations in two dimensions

We study the massless quantum field theories describing the critical points in two dimensional statistical systems. These theories are invariant with respect to the infinite dimensional group of conformal (analytic) transformations. It is shown that the local fields forming the operator algebra can be classified according to the irreducible representations of the Virasoro algebra. Exactly solvable theories associated with degenerate representations are analized. In these theories the anomalous dimensions are known exactly and the correlation functions satisfy the system of linear differential equations.Professor A. B. Zamolodchikov was unable to attend the conference to present this invited paper personally.     

The Three Avtars of the Chern-Simons Term in 3 Space-Time Dimensions

I discuss in detail the three “avtars” of the Chern-Simons (C-S) term in 2 + 1 dimensions i.e. (i) C-S term as gauge field mass term (ii) C-S term as a purely kinematic term (iii) gauge theories with purely C-S action. In the first case we find that because of the C-S term one has massive gauge quanta and still the theory is gauge invariant. Such a C-S term can be generated either by spontaneous symmetry breaking or by radiative corrections. The dramatic effect of this term is that the vortices of the abelian (or nonabelian) Higgs model now have finite, quantized charge and angular momentum. In the second case the C-S term is not really independent but can be expressed in terms of the basic quanta of the 0(3) nonlinear σ-model or CP¹ model. In either case one finds that due to this term the soliton of the model has fractional spin and statistic interpolating between fermions and bosons. The relevance of this in the context of high-T_c, superconductivity is discussed in some detail. Finally the third avtar has to do with some recent work of Witten where he has shown that the Hilbert spaces of the quantum Yang-Mills theory with pure C-S action can be interpreted as the spaces of the conformal blocks in 1 + 1 dimensional conformal theories.     

Characterizing invariants for local extensions of current algebras

ParisA of local quantum field theories are studied, whereA is a chiral conformal quantum field theory and is a local extension, either chiral or two-dimensional. The local correlation functions of fields from have an expansion with respect toA into conformal blocks, which are non-local in general. Two methods of computing characteristic invariant ratios of structure constants in these expansions are compared: (a) by constructing the monodromy representation of the braid group in the space of solutions of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov differential equation, and (b) by an analysis of the local subfactors associated with the extension with methods from operator algebra (Jones theory) and algebraic quantum field theory. Both approaches apply also to the reverse problem: the characterization and (in principle) classification of local extensions of a given theory.     

Chern-Simons and WZW anomaly cancelations across dimensions

The WZW functional in D=4 can be derived directly from the Chern-Simons functional of a compactified D=5 gauge theory and the boundary fermions it supplants. A simple pedagogical model based on U(1) gauge groups illustrates how this works. A bulk-boundary system with the fermions eliminated manifestly evinces anomaly cancelations between CS and WZW terms.