On Axiomatic Approaches To Vertex Operator Algebras And Modules

The notion of vertex operator algebra arises naturally in the vertex operator construction of the Monster---the largest sporadic finite simple group. From another perspective, the theory of vertex operator algebras and their modules forms the algebraic foundation of conformal field theory. Vertex operator algebras and conformal field theory are now known to be deeply related to many important areas of mathematics. This essentially self-contained monograph develops the basic axiomatic theory of vertex operator algebras and their modules and intertwining operators, following a fundamental analogy with Lie algebra theory. The main axiom, the Jacobi(-Cauchy) identity'', is a far-reaching analog of the Jacobi identity for Lie algebras. The authors show that the Jacobi identity is equivalent to suitably formulated rationality, commutativity, and associativity properties of products of quantum fields. A number of other foundational and useful results are also developed.

* Introduces the fundamental theory of vertex operator algebras and its basic techniques and examples. * Begins with a detailed presentation of the theoretical foundations and proceeds to a range of applications. * Includes a number of new, original results and brings fresh perspective to important works of many other researchers in algebra, lie theory, representation theory, string theory, quantum field theory, and other areas of math and physics.

The notion of vertex operator algebra arises naturally in the vertex operator construction of the Monster - the largest sporadic finite simple group. From another perspective, the theory of vertex operator algebras and their modules forms the algebraic foundation of conformal field theory. Vertex operator algebras and conformal field theory are now known to be deeply related to many important areas of mathematics. This essentially self-contained monograph develops the basic axiomatic theory of vertex operator algebras and their modules and intertwining operators, following a fundamental analogy with Lie algebra theory. The main axiom, the 'Jacobi(-Cauchy) identity', is a far-reaching analog of the Jacobi identity for Lie algebras.The authors show that the Jacobi identity is equivalent to suitably formulated rationality, commutativity, and associativity properties of products of quantum fields. A number of other foundational and useful results are also developed. This work was originally distributed as a preprint in 1989, and in view of the current widespread interest in the subject among mathematicians and theoretical physicists, its publication and availability should prove no less useful than when it was written.

This work is motivated by and develops connections between several branches of mathematics and physics--the theories of Lie algebras, finite groups and modular functions in mathematics, and string theory in physics. The first part of the book presents a new mathematical theory of vertex operator algebras, the algebraic counterpart of two-dimensional holomorphic conformal quantum field theory. The remaining part constructs the Monster finite simple group as the automorphism group of a very special vertex operator algebra, called the "moonshine module" because of its relevance to "monstrous moonshine."

The theory of vertex operator algebras is a remarkably rich new mathematical field which captures the algebraic content of conformal field theory in physics. Ideas leading up to this theory appeared in physics as part of statistical mechanics and string theory. In mathematics, the axiomatic definitions crystallized in the work of Borcherds and in Vertex Operator Algebras and the Monster, by Frenkel, Lepowsky, and Meurman. The structure of monodromies of intertwining operators for modules of vertex operator algebras yields braid group representations and leads to natural generalizations of vertex operator algebras, such as superalgebras and para-algebras. Many examples of vertex operator algebras and their generalizations are related to constructions in classical representation theory and shed new light on the classical theory. This book accomplishes several goals. The authors provide an explicit spinor construction, using only Clifford algebras, of a vertex operator superalgebra structure on the direct sum of the basic and vector modules for the affine Kac-Moody algebra $D^{(1)}_n$. They also review and extend Chevalley's spinor construction of the 24-dimensional commutative nonassociative algebraic structure and triality on the direct sum of the three 8-dimensional $D_4$-modules. Vertex operator para-algebras, introduced and developed independently in this book and by Dong and Lepowsky, are related to one-dimensional representations of the braid group. The authors also provide a unified approach to the Chevalley, Griess, and $E_8$ algebras and explain some of their similarities. A third goal is to provide a purely spinor construction of the exceptional affine Lie algebra $E^{(1)}_8$, a natural continuation of previous work on spinor and oscillator constructions of the classical affine Lie algebras. These constructions should easily extend to include the rest of the exceptional affine Lie algebras. The final objective is to develop an inductive technique of construction which could be applied to the Monster vertex operator algebra. Directed at mathematicians and physicists, this book should be accessible to graduate students with some background in finite-dimensional Lie algebras and their representations. Although some experience with affine Kac-Moody algebras would be useful, a summary of the relevant parts of that theory is included. This book shows how the concepts and techniques of Lie theory can be generalized to yield the algebraic structures associated with conformal field theory. The careful reader will also gain a detailed knowledge of how the spinor construction of classical triality lifts to the affine algebras and plays an important role in a spinor construction of vertex operator algebras, modules, and intertwining operators with nontrivial monodromies.

The articles in this book are based on talks given at the international conference 'Lie algebras, vertex operator algebras and their applications'. The focus of the papers is mainly on Lie algebras, quantum groups, vertex operator algebras and their applications to number theory, combinatorics and conformal field theory.

Vertex operator algebras are a class of algebras underlying a number of recent constructions, results, and themes in mathematics. These algebras can be understood as ''string-theoretic analogues'' of Lie algebras and of commutative associative algebras. They play fundamental roles in some of the most active research areas in mathematics and physics. Much recent progress in both physics and mathematics has benefited from cross-pollination between the physical and mathematical points of view. This book presents the proceedings from the workshop, ''Vertex Operator Algebras in Mathematics and Physics'', held at The Fields Institute. It consists of papers based on many of the talks given at the conference by leading experts in the algebraic, geometric, and physical aspects of vertex operator algebra theory. The book is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in the major themes and important developments on the frontier of research in vertex operator algebra theory and its applications in mathematics and physics.

This book presents a systematic study on the structures of vertex operator superalgebras and their modules. Related theories of self-dual codes and lattices are included, as well as recent achievements on classifications of certain simple vertex operator superalgebras and their irreducible twisted modules, constructions of simple vertex operator superalgebras from graded associative algebras and their anti-involutions, self-dual codes and lattices. Audience: This book is of interest to researchers and graduate students in mathematics and mathematical physics.