Quasi-Galois Symmetries of the Modular S-Matrix

The recently introduced Galois symmetries of RCFT are generalized, for the WZW case, to `quasi-Galois symmetries'. These symmetries can be used to derive a large number of equalities and sum rules for entries of the modular matrix S, including some that previously had been observed empirically. In addition, quasi-Galois symmetries allow to construct modular invariants and to relate S-matrices as well as modular invariants at different levels. They also lead us to an extremely plausible conjecture for the branching rules of the conformal embeddings of g into so(dim g).Comment: 20 pages (A4), LaTe

Saddle point states and energy barriers for vortex entrance and exit in superconducting disks and rings

The transitions between the different vortex states of thin mesoscopic superconducting disks and rings are studied using the non-linear Ginzburg-Landau functional. They are saddle points of the free energy representing the energy barrier which has to be overcome for transition between the different vortex states. In small superconducting disks and rings the saddle point state between two giant vortex states, and in larger systems the saddle point state between a multivortex state and a giant vortex state and between two multivortex states is obtained. The shape and the height of the nucleation barrier is investigated for different disk and ring configurations.Comment: 10 pages, 18 figure

Twining characters and orbit Lie algebras

We associate to outer automorphisms of generalized Kac-Moody algebras generalized character-valued indices, the twining characters. A character formula for twining characters is derived which shows that they coincide with the ordinary characters of some other generalized Kac-Moody algebra, the so-called orbit Lie algebra. Some applications to problems in conformal field theory, algebraic geometry and the theory of sporadic simple groups are sketched.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, Talk given by C. Schweigert at the XXI international colloquium on group theoretical methods in physics, July 1996, Goslar, German

Metastability and paramagnetism in superconducting mesoscopic disks

A projected order parameter is used to calculate, not only local minima of the Ginzburg-Landau energy functional, but also saddle points or energy barriers responsible for the metastabilities observed in superconducting mesoscopic disks (Geim et al. Nature {\bf 396}, 144 (1998)). We calculate the local minima magnetization and find the energetic instability points between vortex configurations with different vorticity. We also find that, for any vorticity, the supercurrent can reverse its flow direction on decreasing the magnetic field before one vortex can escape.Comment: Modified version as to appear in Phys. Rev. Let