Related papers: Closed and open conformal field theories and their…
Conformal blocks form a system of vector bundles over the moduli space of complex curves with marked points. We discuss various aspects of these bundles. In particular, we present conjectures about the dimensions of sub-bundles. They imply…
I discuss the general formalism of two-dimensional topological field theories defined on open-closed oriented Riemann surfaces, starting from an extension of Segal's geometric axioms. Exploiting the topological sewing constraints allows for…
This expository paper describes sewing conditions in two-dimensional open/closed topological field theory. We include a description of the G-equivariant case, where G is a finite group. We determine the category of boundary conditions in…
We describe the Segal $K$-theory of the symmetric monoidal category of finite-dimensional vector spaces over a perfect field $\mathbb{F}$ together with an automorphism, or, equivalently, the group-completion of the $E_\infty$-algebra of…
In this short note, we classify linear categorified open topological field theories in dimension two by pivotal Grothendieck-Verdier categories, a type of monoidal category equipped with a weak, not necessarily rigid duality. In combination…
In non-diagonal conformal models, the boundary fields are not directly related to the bulk spectrum. We illustrate some of their features by completing previous work of Lewellen on sewing constraints for conformal theories in the presence…
We outline the structure of boundary conditions in conformal field theory. A boundary condition is specified by a consistent collection of reflection coefficients for bulk fields on the disk together with a choice of an automorphism \omega…
Boundary conformal field theory is the suitable framework for a microscopic treatment of D-branes in arbitrary CFT backgrounds. In this work, we develop boundary deformation theory in order to study the changes of boundary conditions…
In this paper I develop categorical foundations needed for a rigorous approach to the definition of conformal field theory outlined by Graeme Segal. I discuss pseudo algebras over theories and 2-theories, their pseudo morphisms, bilimits,…
We show that if $M$ is a Frobenius manifold of dimension $n$ such that $T_{x} M$ is semisimple for every $x \in M$, then there exists a canonical 2-vector bundle $\mathcal{B}$ over $M$ of rank $n$. This 2-vector bundle encodes the…
In the Lagrangian approach to 2-dimensional sigma models, B-fields and D-branes contribute topological terms to the action of worldsheets of both open and closed strings. We show that these terms naturally fit into a 2-dimensional, smooth…
This is an introduction to two-dimensional conformal field theory and its applications in string theory. Modern concepts of conformal field theory are explained, and it is outlined how they are used in recent studies of D-branes in the…
We introduce a finite-dimensional algebra that controls the possible boundary conditions of a conformal field theory. For theories that are obtained by modding out a Z_2 symmetry (corresponding to a so-called D_odd-type, or half-integer…
For a conformal theory it is natural to seek the conformal moduli space, M_c to which it belongs, generated by the exactly marginal deformations. By now we should have the tools to determine M_c in the presence of enough supersymmetry. Here…
A modular tensor category provides the appropriate data for the construction of a three-dimensional topological field theory. We describe the following analogue for two-dimensional conformal field theories: a 2-category whose objects are…
We analyse the moduli spaces of superconformal field theories (SCFTs). For N=2 we find an enhanced moduli space which in geometrical terms corresponds to tori with two independent complex structures. To explain the precise relation with the…
Motivated by recent developments in string theory, we study the structure of boundary conditions in arbitrary conformal field theories. A boundary condition is specified by two types of data: first, a consistent collection of reflection…
The moduli space of c=1 conformal field theories in two dimensions has a multicritical point, where a circle theory is equivalent to an orbifold theory. We analyse all the conformal branes in both descriptions of this theory, and find…
This is an invited contribution to the 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics. We review the following algebraic structures which appear in two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT): The symmetries of two-dimensional…
$Vect(N)$, the algebra of vector fields in $N$ dimensions, is studied. Some aspects of local differential geometry are formulated as $Vect(N)$ representation theory. There is a new class of modules, {\it conformal fields}, whose…