Logarithmic Superconformal Minimal Models

The higher fusion level logarithmic minimal models LM(P,P';n) have recently been constructed as the diagonal GKO cosets (A_1^{(1)})_k oplus (A_1^{(1)})_n / (A_1^{(1)})_{k+n} where n>0 is an integer fusion level and k=nP/(P'-P)-2 is a fractional level. For n=1, these are the logarithmic minimal models LM(P,P'). For n>1, we argue that these critical theories are realized on the lattice by n x n fusion of the n=1 models. For n=2, we call them logarithmic superconformal minimal models LSM(p,p') where P=|2p-p'|, P'=p' and p,p' are coprime, and they share the central charges of the rational superconformal minimal models SM(P,P'). Their mathematical description entails the fused planar Temperley-Lieb algebra which is a spin-1 BMW tangle algebra with loop fugacity beta_2=x^2+1+x^{-2} and twist omega=x^4 where x=e^{i(p'-p)pi/p'}. Examples are superconformal dense polymers LSM(2,3) with c=-5/2, beta_2=0 and superconformal percolation LSM(3,4) with c=0, beta_2=1. We calculate the free energies analytically. By numerically studying finite-size spectra on the strip with appropriate boundary conditions in Neveu-Schwarz and Ramond sectors, we argue that, in the continuum scaling limit, these lattice models are associated with the logarithmic superconformal models LM(P,P';2). For system size N, we propose finitized Kac character formulas whose P,P' dependence only enters in the fractional power of q in a prefactor. These characters involve Motzkin and Riordan polynomials defined in terms of q-trinomial coefficients. Using the Hamiltonian limit, we argue that there exist reducible yet indecomposable representations for which the Virasoro dilatation operator L_0 exhibits rank-2 Jordan blocks confirming that these theories are indeed logarithmic. We relate these results to the N=1 superconformal representation theory.Comment: 55 pages, v2: comments and references adde

Metric Lie 3-algebras in Bagger-Lambert theory

We recast physical properties of the Bagger-Lambert theory, such as shift-symmetry and decoupling of ghosts, the absence of scale and parity invariance, in Lie 3-algebraic terms, thus motivating the study of metric Lie 3-algebras and their Lie algebras of derivations. We prove a structure theorem for metric Lie 3-algebras in arbitrary signature showing that they can be constructed out of the simple and one-dimensional Lie 3-algebras iterating two constructions: orthogonal direct sum and a new construction called a double extension, by analogy with the similar construction for Lie algebras. We classify metric Lie 3-algebras of signature (2,p) and study their Lie algebras of derivations, including those which preserve the conformal class of the inner product. We revisit the 3-algebraic criteria spelt out at the start of the paper and select those algebras with signature (2,p) which satisfy them, as well as indicate the construction of more general metric Lie 3-algebras satisfying the ghost-decoupling criterion.Comment: 38 page

On the Lie-algebraic origin of metric 3-algebras

Since the pioneering work of Bagger-Lambert and Gustavsson, there has been a proliferation of three-dimensional superconformal Chern-Simons theories whose main ingredient is a metric 3-algebra. On the other hand, many of these theories have been shown to allow for a reformulation in terms of standard gauge theory coupled to matter, where the 3-algebra does not appear explicitly. In this paper we reconcile these two sets of results by pointing out the Lie-algebraic origin of some metric 3-algebras, including those which have already appeared in three-dimensional superconformal Chern-Simons theories. More precisely, we show that the real 3-algebras of Cherkis-Saemann, which include the metric Lie 3-algebras as a special case, and the hermitian 3-algebras of Bagger-Lambert can be constructed from pairs consisting of a metric real Lie algebra and a faithful (real or complex, respectively) unitary representation. This construction generalises and we will see how to construct many kinds of metric 3-algebras from pairs consisting of a real metric Lie algebra and a faithful (real, complex or quaternionic) unitary representation. In the real case, these 3-algebras are precisely the Cherkis-Saemann algebras, which are then completely characterised in terms of this data. In the complex and quaternionic cases, they constitute generalisations of the Bagger-Lambert hermitian 3-algebras and anti-Lie triple systems, respectively, which underlie N=6 and N=5 superconformal Chern-Simons theories, respectively. In the process we rederive the relation between certain types of complex 3-algebras and metric Lie superalgebras.Comment: 29 pages (v4: really final version to appear in CMP. Example 7 has been improved.