Related papers: Field theories with defects and the centre functor
We initiate a systematic study of 3-dimensional `defect' topological quantum field theories, that we introduce as symmetric monoidal functors on stratified and decorated bordisms. For every such functor we construct a tricategory with…
This is a survey article for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd Edition. Topological defects are described in the context of the 2-dimensional Ising model on the lattice, in 2-dimensional quantum field theory, in topological…
These notes offer an introduction to the functorial and algebraic description of 2-dimensional topological quantum field theories `with defects', assuming only superficial familiarity with closed TQFTs in terms of commutative Frobenius…
The lattice definition of a two-dimensional topological field theory (TFT) is given generically, and the exact solution is obtained explicitly. In particular, the set of all lattice topological field theories is shown to be in one-to-one…
We explore higher-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) in the presence of a conformal defect that itself hosts another sub-dimensional defect. We refer to this new kind of conformal defect as the composite defect. We elaborate on the…
The modern way to understand symmetries of a quantum field theory is via its topological defects in various dimensions. In this contribution to the proceedings we focus on line defects in 2d QFT and we point out that topological defects…
We introduce a framework for internal topological symmetries in quantum field theory, including "noninvertible symmetries" and "categorical symmetries". This leads to a calculus of topological defects which takes full advantage of…
We study orbifolds of two-dimensional topological field theories using defects. If the TFT arises as the twist of a superconformal field theory, we recover results on the Neveu-Schwarz and Ramond sectors of the orbifold theory as well as…
Topological defects play a fundamental role in the investigation of symmetries in quantum field theories. For conformal field theories in two space-time dimensions, it is possible to construct these defects using lattice models allowing…
This work contains a set of lectures on defect structures, mainly in models described by scalar fields in diverse dimensions.
We demonstrate that topological defects in a rational conformal field theory can be described by a classifying algebra for defects - a finite-dimensional semisimple unital commutative associative algebra whose irreducible representations…
Mostly self-contained script on functorial topological quantum field theories. These notes give a slow introduction to the basic notions of category theory which serve a closer investigation of cobordisms and (commutative) Frobenius…
Orbifolds of two-dimensional quantum field theories have a natural formulation in terms of defects or domain walls. This perspective allows for a rich generalisation of the orbifolding procedure, which we study in detail for the case of…
The notion of the center of an algebra over a field k has a far reaching generalization to algebras in monoidal categories. The center then lives in the monoidal center of the original category. This generalization plays an important role…
Structures in low-dimensional topology and low-dimensional geometry -- often combined with ideas from (quantum) field theory -- can explain and inspire concepts in algebra and in representation theory and their categorified versions. We…
Defects are a useful tool in the study of quantum field theories. This is illustrated in the example of two-dimensional conformal field theories. We describe how defect lines and their junction points appear in the description of symmetries…
We construct the defining data of two-dimensional topological field theories (TFTs) enriched by non-invertible symmetries/topological defect lines. Simple formulae for the three-point functions and the lasso two-point functions are derived,…
In this paper I discuss the formation of topological defects in quantum field theory and the relation between fractals and coherent states. The study of defect formation is particularly useful in the understanding of the same mathematical…
Defects in conformal field theories are interesting objects to study from both formal and applied points of view. In this paper, we construct conformal defects in free scalar field CFTs in diverse dimensions. After discussing the possible…
(Talk presented at the XVth Workshop on Geometric Methods in Physics, Quantizations, Deformations and Coherent States, in Bialowieza, Poland, July 1-7, 1996.) The aim of this article is to introduce some basic notions of Topological Quantum…