On free conformal and vertex algebras

This is a set of lecture notes on the operator algebraic approach to 2-dimensional conformal field theory. Representation theoretic aspects and connections to vertex operator algebras are emphasized. No knowledge on operator algebras or quantum field theory is assumed.

Herein we study conformal vectors of a Z-graded vertex algebra of (strong) CFT type. We prove that the full vertex algebra automorphism group transitively acts on the set of the conformal vectors of strong CFT type if the vertex algebra is simple. The statement is equivalent to the uniqueness of self-dual vertex operator algebra structures of a simple vertex algebra. As an application, we show that the full vertex algebra automorphism group of a simple vertex operator algebra...

In this paper, we construct six families of infinite simple conformal superalgebra of finite growth based on our earlier work on constructing vertex operator superalgebras from graded assocaitive algebras. Three subfamilies of these conformal superalgebras are generated by simple Jordan algebras of types A, B and C in a certain sense.

The notion of vertex operator coalgebra is presented and motivated via the geometry of conformal field theory. Specifically, we describe the category of geometric vertex operator coalgebras, whose objects have comultiplicative structures meromorphically induced by conformal equivalence classes of worldsheets. We then show this category is isomorphic to the category of vertex operator coalgebras, which is defined in the language of formal algebra. The latter has several charac...

Associative conformal algebras of conformal endomorphisms are of essential importance for the study of finite representations of conformal Lie algebras (Lie vertex algebras). We describe all semisimple algebras of conformal endomorphisms which have the trivial second Hochschild cohomology group with coefficients in every conformal bimodule. As a consequence, we state a complete solution of the radical splitting problem in the class of associative conformal algebras with a fin...

In hep-th/0010293 Kapustin and Orlov introduce the notion of an OPE-algebra and propose that it formalizes conformal field theories in the same way as vertex algebras formalize chiral algebras, i.e. the subalgebras of holomorphic fields of conformal field theories. In this thesis we study the question which concepts and results of the general theory of vertex algebras can be extended to OPE-algebras.

In this paper we investigate the structure of intermediate vertex algebras associated with a maximal conformal embedding of a reductive Lie algebra in a semisimple Lie algebra of classical type.

We develop structure theory of finite Lie conformal superalgebras.

In this paper we introduce a notion of vertex Lie algebra U, in a way a "half" of vertex algebra structure sufficient to construct the corresponding local Lie algebra L(U) and a vertex algebra V(U). We show that we may consider U as a subset of V(U) which generates V(U) and that the vertex Lie algebra structure on U is induced by the vertex algebra structure on V(U). Moreover, for any vertex algebra V a given homomorphism from U to V of vertex Lie algebras extends uniquely to...

Vertex operator algebras are mathematically rigorous objects corresponding to chiral algebras in conformal field theory. Operads are mathematical devices to describe operations, that is, $n$-ary operations for all $n$ greater than or equal to $0$, not just binary products. In this paper, a reformulation of the notion of vertex operator algebra in terms of operads is presented. This reformulation shows that the rich geometric structure revealed in the study of conformal field ...