Representation theory in complex rank, I

P. Deligne defined interpolations of the tensor category of representations of the symmetric group S_n to complex values of n. Namely, he defined tensor categories Rep(S_t) for any complex t. This construction was generalized by F. Knop to the case of wreath products of S_n with a finite group. Generalizing these results, we propose a method of interpolating representations categories of various algebras containing S_n (such as degenerate affine Hecke algebras, symplectic reflection algebras, rational Cherednik algebras, etc.) to complex values of n. We also define the group algebra of S_n for complex n, study its properties, and propose a Schur-Weyl duality for Rep(S_t). In version 2, same more details have been added.Comment: 26 pages, late

On Vafa's theorem for tensor categories

In this note we prove two main results. 1. In a rigid braided finite tensor category over C (not necessarily semisimple), some power of the Casimir element and some even power of the braiding is unipotent. 2. In a (semisimple) modular category, the twists are roots of unity dividing the algebraic integer D^{5/2}, where D is the global dimension of the category (the sum of squares of dimensions of simple objects). Both results generalize Vafa's theorem, saying that in a modular category twists are roots of unity, and square of the braiding has finite order. We also discuss the notion of the quasi-exponent of a finite rigid tensor category, which is motivated by results 1 and 2 and the paper math/0109196 of S.Gelaki and the author.Comment: 6 pages, late