Thomas Creutzig - Böcker

This book contains the proceedings of the AMS Special Session on Vertex Algebras and Geometry, held from October 8-9, 2016, and the mini-conference on Vertex Algebras, held from October 10-11, 2016, in Denver, Colorado.The papers cover vertex algebras in connection with geometry and tensor categories, with topics in vertex rings, chiral algebroids, the Higgs branch conjecture, and applicability and use of vertex tensor categories.

Let V be a vertex operator algebra with a category C of (generalized) modules that has vertex tensor category structure, and thus braided tensor category structure, and let A be a vertex operator (super)algebra extension of V . We employ tensor categories to study untwisted (also called local) A-modules in C, using results of Huang-Kirillov-Lepowsky that show that A is a (super)algebra object in C and that generalized A-modules in C correspond exactly to local modules for the corresponding (super)algebra object. Both categories, of local modules for a C-algebra and (under suitable conditions) of generalized A-modules, have natural braided monoidal category structure, given in the first case by Pareigis and Kirillov-Ostrik and in the second case by Huang-Lepowsky-Zhang.Our main result is that the Huang-Kirillov-Lepowsky isomorphism of categories between local (super)algebra modules and extended vertex operator (super)algebra modules is also an isomorphism of braided monoidal (super)categories. Using this result, we show that induction from a suitable subcategory of V -modules to Amodules is a vertex tensor functor. Two applications are given: First, we derive Verlinde formulae for regular vertex operator superalgebras and regular 1 2Z-graded vertex operator algebras by realizing them as (super)algebra objects in the vertex tensor categories of their even and Z-graded components, respectively.

The Memoirs of the AMS is devoted to the publication of new research in all areas of pure and applied mathematics. The Memoirs is designed particularly to publish long papers of groups of cognate papers in book form, and is under the supervision of the Editorial Committee of the AMS journal Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. All papers are peer-reviewed.