Related papers: Modular invariance of trace functions in orbifold …
Following on from a general observation in an earlier paper, we consider the continuous symmetries of a certain class of conformal field theories constructed from lattices and their reflection-twisted orbifolds. It is shown that the naive…
For massive and conformal quantum field theories in 1+1 dimensions with a global gauge group we consider soliton automorphisms, viz. automorphisms of the quasilocal algebra which act like two different global symmetry transformations on the…
We summarize the results obtained in the last few years about permutation orbifolds in two-dimensional conformal field theories, their application to string theory and their use in the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string…
The monoidal category of twisted modules of a Vertex Operator Algebra $V$ is defined and reduced to its 2-group of invertible objects $G_\alpha$, which can be described by a 3-cocycle $\alpha$ on its 0-truncation $G$ with values in the…
We describe the role conformal nets, a mathematical model for conformal field theory, could play in a geometric definition of the generalized cohomology theory TMF of topological modular forms. Inspired by work of Segal and Stolz-Teichner,…
In this paper, we study the structure of a general framed vertex operator algebra. We show that the structure codes (C,D) of a framed VOA V satisfy certain duality conditions. As a consequence, we prove that every framed VOA is a simple…
Every four-dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ superconformal field theory comes equipped with an intricate algebraic invariant, the associated vertex operator algebra. The relationships between this invariant and more conventional protected…
We show that the conformal characters of various rational models of W-algebras can be already uniquely determined if one merely knows the central charge and the conformal dimensions. As a side result we develop several tools for studying…
We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field in detail and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is pointed out that the term with the antisymmetric background field can be…
We prove an $\text{SL}_2 (\mathbb{Z})$-invariance property of multivariable trace functions on modules for a regular VOA. Applying this result, we provide a proof of the inversion transformation formula for Siegel theta series. As another…
This paper is a review of open-closed rational conformal field theory (CFT) via the theory of vertex operator algebras (VOAs), together with a proposal of a new geometry based on CFTs and D-branes. We will start with an outline of the idea…
We continue the development of the topological membrane approach to open and unoriented string theories. We study orbifolds of topologically massive gauge theory defined on the geometry $[0,1]\times\Sigma$, where $\Sigma$ is a generic…
This is the first in a series of articles about recovering the full algebraic structure of a boundary conformal field theory (CFT) from the scaling limit of the critical Ising model in slit-strip geometry. Here, we introduce spaces of…
Starting with a vertex algebra $V$, a finite group $G$ of automorphisms of $V$, and a suitable collection of twisted $V$--modules, we construct (twisted) $D$--modules on the stack of pointed $G$--covers, introduced by Jarvis, Kaufmann, and…
String backgrounds are described as purely geometric objects related to moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces, in the spirit of Segal's definition of a conformal field theory. Relations with conformal field theory, topological field theory and…
We consider the conformal blocks in the theories with extended conformal W-symmetry for the integer Virasoro central charges. We show that these blocks for the generalized twist fields on sphere can be computed exactly in terms of the free…
This is a paper in a series systematically to study toroidal vertex algebras. Previously, a theory of toroidal vertex algebras and modules was developed and toroidal vertex algebras were explicitly associated to toroidal Lie algebras. In…
We investigate gauge anomalies in the context of orbifold conformal field theories. Such anomalies manifest as failures of modular invariance in the constituents of the orbifold partition function. We review how this irregularity is…
This paper, together with Part II, expands the results of math.DG/9803051. In Part I we study the twisted index theory of elliptic operators on orbifold covering spaces of compact good orbifolds, which are invariant under a projective…
This thesis describes a new approach to conformal field theory. This approach combines the method of coadjoint orbits with resolutions and chiral vertex operators to give a construction of the correlation functions of conformal field…