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Vertex Operator Algebra
In mathematics, a vertex operator algebra (VOA) is an algebraic structure that plays an important role in two-dimensional conformal field theory and string theory. In addition to physical applications, vertex operator algebras have proven useful in purely mathematical contexts such as monstrous moonshine and the geometric Langlands correspondence. The related notion of vertex algebra was introduced by Richard Borcherds in 1986, motivated by a construction of an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra due to Igor Frenkel. In the course of this construction, one employs a Fock space that admits an action of vertex operators attached to elements of a unimodular lattice, lattice. Borcherds formulated the notion of vertex algebra by axiomatizing the relations between the lattice vertex operators, producing an algebraic structure that allows one to construct new Lie algebras by following Frenkel's method. The notion of vertex operator algebra was introduced as a modification of the notion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-dimensional Conformal Field Theory
A two-dimensional conformal field theory is a quantum field theory on a Euclidean two-dimensional space, that is invariant under local conformal transformations. In contrast to other types of conformal field theories, two-dimensional conformal field theories have infinite-dimensional symmetry algebras. In some cases, this allows them to be solved exactly, using the conformal bootstrap method. Notable two-dimensional conformal field theories include minimal models, Liouville theory, massless free bosonic theories, Wess–Zumino–Witten models, and certain sigma models. Basic structures Geometry Two-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) are defined on Riemann surfaces, where local conformal maps are holomorphic functions. While a CFT might conceivably exist only on a given Riemann surface, its existence on any surface other than the sphere implies its existence on all surfaces. Given a CFT, it is indeed possible to glue two Riemann surfaces where it exists, and obtai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commutative Ring
In mathematics, a commutative ring is a Ring (mathematics), ring in which the multiplication operation is commutative. The study of commutative rings is called commutative algebra. Complementarily, noncommutative algebra is the study of ring properties that are not specific to commutative rings. This distinction results from the high number of fundamental properties of commutative rings that do not extend to noncommutative rings. Commutative rings appear in the following chain of subclass (set theory), class inclusions: Definition and first examples Definition A ''ring'' is a Set (mathematics), set R equipped with two binary operations, i.e. operations combining any two elements of the ring to a third. They are called ''addition'' and ''multiplication'' and commonly denoted by "+" and "\cdot"; e.g. a+b and a \cdot b. To form a ring these two operations have to satisfy a number of properties: the ring has to be an abelian group under addition as well as a monoid under m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Representation Theory
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), modules over these abstract algebraic structures. In essence, a representation makes an abstract algebraic object more concrete by describing its elements by matrix (mathematics), matrices and their algebraic operations (for example, matrix addition, matrix multiplication). The algebraic objects amenable to such a description include group (mathematics), groups, associative algebras and Lie algebras. The most prominent of these (and historically the first) is the group representation, representation theory of groups, in which elements of a group are represented by invertible matrices such that the group operation is matrix multiplication. Representation theory is a useful method because it reduces problems in abstract algebra to problems ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Manifold
In differential geometry and complex geometry, a complex manifold is a manifold with a ''complex structure'', that is an atlas (topology), atlas of chart (topology), charts to the open unit disc in the complex coordinate space \mathbb^n, such that the transition maps are Holomorphic function, holomorphic. The term "complex manifold" is variously used to mean a complex manifold in the sense above (which can be specified as an ''integrable'' complex manifold) or an almost complex manifold, ''almost'' complex manifold. Implications of complex structure Since holomorphic functions are much more rigid than smooth functions, the theories of smooth manifold, smooth and complex manifolds have very different flavors: compact space, compact complex manifolds are much closer to algebraic variety, algebraic varieties than to differentiable manifolds. For example, the Whitney embedding theorem tells us that every smooth ''n''-dimensional manifold can be Embedding, embedded as a smooth subma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiral De Rham Complex
Chirality () is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is distinguishable from its mirror image; that is, it cannot be superposed (not to be confused with superimposed) onto it. Conversely, a mirror image of an ''achiral'' object, such as a sphere, cannot be distinguished from the object. A chiral object and its mirror image are called '' enantiomorphs'' (Greek, "opposite forms") or, when referring to molecules, ''enantiomers''. A non-chiral object is called ''achiral'' (sometimes also ''amphichiral'') and can be superposed on its mirror image. The term was first used by Lord Kelvin in 1893 in the second Robert Boyle Lecture at the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club which was published in 1894: Human hands are perhaps the most recognized example of chirality. The left hand is a non-superposable mirror ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affine W-algebra
Affine may describe any of various topics concerned with connections or affinities. It may refer to: * Affine, a relative by marriage in law and anthropology * Affine cipher, a special case of the more general substitution cipher * Affine combination, a certain kind of constrained linear combination * Affine connection, a connection on the tangent bundle of a differentiable manifold * Affine Coordinate System, a coordinate system that can be viewed as a Cartesian coordinate system where the axes have been placed so that they are not necessarily orthogonal to each other. See tensor. * Affine differential geometry, a geometry that studies differential invariants under the action of the special affine group * Affine gap penalty, the most widely used scoring function used for sequence alignment, especially in bioinformatics * Affine geometry, a geometry characterized by parallel lines * Affine group, the group of all invertible affine transformations from any affine space over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automorphism Group
In mathematics, the automorphism group of an object ''X'' is the group consisting of automorphisms of ''X'' under composition of morphisms. For example, if ''X'' is a finite-dimensional vector space, then the automorphism group of ''X'' is the group of invertible linear transformations from ''X'' to itself (the general linear group of ''X''). If instead ''X'' is a group, then its automorphism group \operatorname(X) is the group consisting of all group automorphisms of ''X''. Especially in geometric contexts, an automorphism group is also called a symmetry group. A subgroup of an automorphism group is sometimes called a transformation group. Automorphism groups are studied in a general way in the field of category theory. Examples If ''X'' is a set with no additional structure, then any bijection from ''X'' to itself is an automorphism, and hence the automorphism group of ''X'' in this case is precisely the symmetric group of ''X''. If the set ''X'' has additional structu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Group
In the area of abstract algebra known as group theory, the monster group M (also known as the Fischer–Griess monster, or the friendly giant) is the largest sporadic simple group; it has order : : = 2463205976112133171923293141475971 : ≈ . The finite simple groups have been completely classified. Every such group belongs to one of 18 countably infinite families or is one of 26 sporadic groups that do not follow such a systematic pattern. The monster group contains 20 sporadic groups (including itself) as subquotients. Robert Griess, who proved the existence of the monster in 1982, has called those 20 groups the ''happy family'', and the remaining six exceptions '' pariahs''. It is difficult to give a good constructive definition of the monster because of its complexity. Martin Gardner wrote a popular account of the monster group in his June 1980 Mathematical Games column in ''Scientific American''. History The monster was predi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wess–Zumino–Witten Model
In theoretical physics and mathematics, a Wess–Zumino–Witten (WZW) model, also called a Wess–Zumino–Novikov–Witten model, is a type of two-dimensional conformal field theory named after Julius Wess, Bruno Zumino, Sergei Novikov and Edward Witten. A WZW model is associated to a Lie group (or supergroup), and its symmetry algebra is the affine Lie algebra built from the corresponding Lie algebra (or Lie superalgebra). By extension, the name WZW model is sometimes used for any conformal field theory whose symmetry algebra is an affine Lie algebra. Action Definition For \Sigma a Riemann surface, G a Lie group, and k a (generally complex) number, let us define the G-WZW model on \Sigma at the level k. The model is a nonlinear sigma model whose action is a functional of a field \gamma:\Sigma \to G: :S_k(\gamma)= -\frac \int_ d^2x\, \mathcal \left (\gamma^ \partial^\mu \gamma, \gamma^ \partial_\mu \gamma \right ) + 2\pi k S^(\gamma). Here, \Sigma is equipped with a fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kac–Moody Algebra
In mathematics, a Kac–Moody algebra (named for Victor Kac and Robert Moody, who independently and simultaneously discovered them in 1968) is a Lie algebra, usually infinite-dimensional, that can be defined by generators and relations through a generalized Cartan matrix. These algebras form a generalization of finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebras, and many properties related to the structure of a Lie algebra such as its root system, irreducible representations, and connection to flag manifolds have natural analogues in the Kac–Moody setting. A class of Kac–Moody algebras called affine Lie algebras is of particular importance in mathematics and theoretical physics, especially two-dimensional conformal field theory and the theory of exactly solvable models. Kac discovered an elegant proof of certain combinatorial identities, the Macdonald identities, which is based on the representation theory of affine Kac–Moody algebras. Howard Garland and James Lepowsky demonstrated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Factorization Algebra
In mathematics and mathematical physics, a factorization algebra is an algebraic structure first introduced by Beilinson and Drinfel'd in an algebro-geometric setting as a reformulation of chiral algebras, and also studied in a more general setting by Costello and Gwilliam to study quantum field theory. Definition Prefactorization algebras A factorization algebra is a prefactorization algebra satisfying some properties, similar to sheafs being a presheaf with extra conditions. If M is a topological space, a prefactorization algebra \mathcal of vector spaces on M is an assignment of vector spaces \mathcal(U) to open sets U of M, along with the following conditions on the assignment: * For each inclusion U \subset V, there's a linear map m_V^U: \mathcal(U) \rightarrow \mathcal(V) * There is a linear map m_V^: \mathcal(U_1)\otimes \cdots \otimes \mathcal(U_n) \rightarrow \mathcal(V) for each finite collection of open sets with each U_i \subset V and the U_i pairwise disjo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vladimir Drinfeld
Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld (; born February 14, 1954), surname also romanized as Drinfel'd, is a mathematician from Ukraine, who immigrated to the United States and works at the University of Chicago. Drinfeld's work connected algebraic geometry over finite fields with number theory, especially the theory of automorphic forms, through the notions of elliptic module and the theory of the geometric Langlands correspondence. Drinfeld introduced the notion of a quantum group (independently discovered by Michio Jimbo at the same time) and made important contributions to mathematical physics, including the ADHM construction of instantons, algebraic formalism of the quantum inverse scattering method, and the Drinfeld–Sokolov reduction in the theory of solitons. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1990. In 2016, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 2018 he received the Wolf Prize in Mathematics. In 2023 he was awarded the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
