779 research outputs found

    Branching rules of semi-simple Lie algebras using affine extensions

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    We present a closed formula for the branching coefficients of an embedding p in g of two finite-dimensional semi-simple Lie algebras. The formula is based on the untwisted affine extension of p. It leads to an alternative proof of a simple algorithm for the computation of branching rules which is an analog of the Racah-Speiser algorithm for tensor products. We present some simple applications and describe how integral representations for branching coefficients can be obtained. In the last part we comment on the relation of our approach to the theory of NIM-reps of the fusion rings of WZW models with chiral algebra g_k. In fact, it turns out that for these models each embedding p in g induces a NIM-rep at level k to infinity. In cases where these NIM-reps can be be extended to finite level, we obtain a Verlinde-like formula for branching coefficients.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, v2: one reference added, v3: Clarified proof of Theorem 2, completely rewrote and extended Section 5 (relation to CFT), added various references. Accepted for publication in J. Phys.

    Charges of Exceptionally Twisted Branes

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    The charges of the exceptionally twisted (D4 with triality and E6 with charge conjugation) D-branes of WZW models are determined from the microscopic/CFT point of view. The branes are labeled by twisted representations of the affine algebra, and their charge is determined to be the ground state multiplicity of the twisted representation. It is explicitly shown using Lie theory that the charge groups of these twisted branes are the same as those of the untwisted ones, confirming the macroscopic K-theoretic calculation. A key ingredient in our proof is that, surprisingly, the G2 and F4 Weyl dimensions see the simple currents of A2 and D4, respectively.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, LaTex2e, complete proofs of all statements, updated bibliograph

    Coulomb-gas formulation of SU(2) branes and chiral blocks

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    We construct boundary states in SU(2)kSU(2)_k WZNW models using the bosonized Wakimoto free-field representation and study their properties. We introduce a Fock space representation of Ishibashi states which are coherent states of bosons with zero-mode momenta (boundary Coulomb-gas charges) summed over certain lattices according to Fock space resolution of SU(2)kSU(2)_k. The Virasoro invariance of the coherent states leads to families of boundary states including the B-type D-branes found by Maldacena, Moore and Seiberg, as well as the A-type corresponding to trivial current gluing conditions. We then use the Coulomb-gas technique to compute exact correlation functions of WZNW primary fields on the disk topology with A- and B-type Cardy states on the boundary. We check that the obtained chiral blocks for A-branes are solutions of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, revtex4. Essentially the published versio

    Conformal Orbifold Partition Functions from Topologically Massive Gauge Theory

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    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]×Σ[0,1]\times\Sigma, where Σ\Sigma is a generic compact Riemann surface. The orbifold operations are constructed by gauging the discrete symmetries of the bulk three-dimensional field theory. Multi-loop bosonic string vacuum amplitudes are thereby computed as bulk correlation functions of the gauge theory. It is shown that the three-dimensional correlators naturally reproduce twisted and untwisted sectors in the case of closed worldsheet orbifolds, and Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions in the case of open ones. The bulk wavefunctions are used to explicitly construct the characters of the underlying extended Kac-Moody group for arbitrary genus. The correlators for both the original theory and its orbifolds give the expected modular invariant statistical sums over the characters.Comment: 47 pages LaTeX, 3 figures, uses amsfonts and epsfig; v2: Typos corrected, reference added, clarifying comments on modular invariance inserted; v3: Further comments on modular invariance added; to be published in JHE

    D-branes in T-fold conformal field theory

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    We investigate boundary dynamics of orbifold conformal field theory involving T-duality twists. Such models typically appear in contexts of non-geometric string compactifications that are called monodrofolds or T-folds in recent literature. We use the framework of boundary conformal field theory to analyse the models from a microscopic world-sheet perspective. In these backgrounds there are two kinds of D-branes that are analogous to bulk and fractional branes in standard orbifold models. The bulk D-branes in T-folds allow intuitive geometrical interpretations and are consistent with the classical analysis based on the doubled torus formalism. The fractional branes, on the other hand, are `non-geometric' at any point in the moduli space and their geometric counterparts seem to be missing in the doubled torus analysis. We compute cylinder amplitudes between the bulk and fractional branes, and find that the lightest modes of the open string spectra show intriguing non-linear dependence on the moduli (location of the brane or value of the Wilson line), suggesting that the physics of T-folds, when D-branes are involved, could deviate from geometric backgrounds even at low energies. We also extend our analysis to the models with SU(2) WZW fibre at arbitrary levels.Comment: 38 pages, no figure, ams packages. Essentially the published versio

    The charges of a twisted brane

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    The charges of the twisted D-branes of certain WZW models are determined. The twisted D-branes are labelled by twisted representations of the affine algebra, and their charge is simply the ground state multiplicity of the twisted representation. It is shown that the resulting charge group is isomorphic to the charge group of the untwisted branes, as had been anticipated from a K-theory calculation. Our arguments rely on a number of non-trivial Lie theoretic identities.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure, harvmac (b
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