Introduction to Vertex Algebras, Borcherds Algebras, and the Monster Lie Algebra

The theory of vertex algebras constitutes a mathematically rigorous axiomatic formulation of the algebraic origins of conformal field theory. In this context Borcherds algebras arise as certain ``physical'' subspaces of vertex algebras. The aim of this review is to give a pedagogical introduction into this rapidly-developing area of mathemat% ics. Based on the machinery of formal calculus we present the axiomatic definition of vertex algebras. We discuss the connection with conformal field theory by deriving important implications of these axioms. In particular, many explicit calculations are presented to stress the eminent role of the Jacobi identity axiom for vertex algebras. As a class of concrete examples the vertex algebras associated with even lattices are constructed and it is shown in detail how affine Lie algebras and the fake Monster Lie algebra naturally appear. This leads us to the abstract definition of Borcherds algebras as generalized Kac-Moody algebras and their basic properties. Finally, the results about the simplest generic Borcherds algebras are analysed from the point of view of symmetry in quantum theory and the construction of the Monster Lie algebra is sketched.Comment: 55 pages, (two minor changes thanks to comment by R. Borcherds

Explicit determination of a 727-dimensional root space of the hyperbolic Lie algebra E10E_{10}

The 727-dimensional root space associated with the level-2 root \bLambda_1 of the hyperbolic Kac--Moody algebra $E_{10}$ is determined using a recently developed string theoretic approach to hyperbolic algebras. The explicit form of the basis reveals a complicated structure with transversal as well as longitudinal string states present.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX 2

An Affine String Vertex Operator Construction at Arbitrary Level

An affine vertex operator construction at arbitrary level is presented which is based on a completely compactified chiral bosonic string whose momentum lattice is taken to be the (Minkowskian) affine weight lattice. This construction is manifestly physical in the sense of string theory, i.e., the vertex operators are functions of DDF ``oscillators'' and the Lorentz generators, both of which commute with the Virasoro constraints. We therefore obtain explicit representations of affine highest weight modules in terms of physical (DDF) string states. This opens new perspectives on the representation theory of affine Kac-Moody algebras, especially in view of the simultaneous treatment of infinitely many affine highest weight representations of arbitrary level within a single state space as required for the study of hyperbolic Kac-Moody algebras. A novel interpretation of the affine Weyl group as the ``dimensional null reduction'' of the corresponding hyperbolic Weyl group is given, which follows upon re-expression of the affine Weyl translations as Lorentz boosts.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX2e, packages amsfonts, amssymb, xspace; final version to appear in J. Math. Phy

The Sugawara generators at arbitrary level

We construct an explicit representation of the Sugawara generators for arbitrary level in terms of the homogeneous Heisenberg subalgebra, which generalizes the well-known expression at level 1. This is achieved by employing a physical vertex operator realization of the affine algebra at arbitrary level, in contrast to the Frenkel--Kac--Segal construction which uses unphysical oscillators and is restricted to level 1. At higher level, the new operators are transcendental functions of DDF ``oscillators'' unlike the quadratic expressions for the level-1 generators. An essential new feature of our construction is the appearance, beyond level 1, of new types of poles in the operator product expansions in addition to the ones at coincident points, which entail (controllable) non-localities in our formulas. We demonstrate the utility of the new formalism by explicitly working out some higher-level examples. Our results have important implications for the problem of constructing explicit representations for higher-level root spaces of hyperbolic Kac--Moody algebras, and $E_{10}$ in particular.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX2e, amsfonts, amssymb, xspace, PiCTe

Missing Modules, the Gnome Lie Algebra, and E10E_{10}

We study the embedding of Kac-Moody algebras into Borcherds (or generalized Kac-Moody) algebras which can be explicitly realized as Lie algebras of physical states of some completely compactified bosonic string. The extra ``missing states'' can be decomposed into irreducible highest or lowest weight ``missing modules'' w.r.t. the relevant Kac-Moody subalgebra; the corresponding lowest weights are associated with imaginary simple roots whose multiplicities can be simply understood in terms of certain polarization states of the associated string. We analyse in detail two examples where the momentum lattice of the string is given by the unique even unimodular Lorentzian lattice $II_{1,1}$ or $II_{9,1}$, respectively. The former leads to the Borcherds algebra $g_{1,1}$, which we call ``gnome Lie algebra", with maximal Kac-Moody subalgebra $A_1$. By the use of the denominator formula a complete set of imaginary simple roots can be exhibited, whereas the DDF construction provides an explicit Lie algebra basis in terms of purely longitudinal states of the compactified string in two dimensions. The second example is the Borcherds algebra $g_{9,1}$, whose maximal Kac-Moody subalgebra is the hyperbolic algebra $E_{10}$. The imaginary simple roots at level 1, which give rise to irreducible lowest weight modules for $E_{10}$, can be completely characterized; furthermore, our explicit analysis of two non-trivial level-2 root spaces leads us to conjecture that these are in fact the only imaginary simple roots for $g_{9,1}$.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX2e, AMS packages, PSTRICK

E10 for beginners

Invited talk presented by H. Nicolai at the Feza Gürsey Memorial Conference, Istanbul, June 1994

E10 for beginners - Contribution to Gürsey Memorial Conference Proceedings '94

We present a nontechnical introduction to the hyperbolic Kac Moody algebra E_{10} and summarize our recent attempt to understand the root spaces of Kac Moody algebras of hyperbolic type in terms of a DDF construction appropriate to a subcritical compactified bosonic string

On the fundamental representation of Borcherds algebras with one imaginary simple root

Borcherds algebras represent a new class of Lie algebras which have almost all the properties that ordinary Kac-Moody algebras have, and the only major difference is that these generalized Kac-Moody algebras are allowed to have imaginary simple roots. The simplest nontrivial examples one can think of are those where one adds ``by hand'' one imaginary simple root to an ordinary Kac-Moody algebra. We study the fundamental representation of this class of examples and prove that an irreducible module is given by the full tensor algebra over some integrable highest weight module of the underlying Kac-Moody algebra. We also comment on possible realizations of these Lie algebras in physics as symmetry algebras in quantum field theory.Comment: 8 page

BPS Saturation from Null Reduction

We show that any $d$-dimensional strictly stationary, asymptotically Minkowskian solution $(d\ge 4)$ of a null reduction of $d+1$-dimensional pure gravity must saturate the BPS bound provided that the KK vector field can be identified appropriately. We also argue that it is consistent with the field equations.Comment: 10 page