Current algebra and conformal field theory on a figure eight

DOI10.1142/S0217751X9300223XzbMATH Open0985.81688arXivhep-th/9304032MaRDI QIDQ2775158FDOQ2775158

P. Salomonson, Giuseppe Bimonte, Kumar S. Gupta, A. P. Balachandran, A. Simoni, Giuseppe Marmo, A. Stern

Publication date: 26 February 2002

Published in: International Journal of Modern Physics A (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We examine the dynamics of a free massless scalar field on a figure eight network. Upon requiring the scalar field to have a well defined value at the junction of the network, it is seen that the conserved currents of the theory satisfy Kirchhoff's law, that is that the current flowing into the junction equals the current flowing out. We obtain the corresponding current algebra and show that, unlike on a circle, the left- and right-moving currents on the figure eight do not in general commute in quantum theory. Since a free scalar field theory on a one dimensional spatial manifold exhibits conformal symmetry, it is natural to ask whether an analogous symmetry can be defined for the figure eight. We find that, unlike in the case of a manifold, the action plus boundary conditions for the network are not invariant under separate conformal transformations associated with left- and right-movers. Instead, the system is, at best, invariant under only a single set of transformations. Its conserved current is also found to satisfy Kirchhoff's law at the junction. We obtain the associated conserved charges, and show that they generate a Virasoro algebra. Its conformal anomaly (central charge) is computed for special values of the parameters characterizing the network.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9304032

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Infinite-dimensional groups and algebras motivated by physics, including Virasoro, Kac-Moody, (W)-algebras and other current algebras and their representations (81R10) Two-dimensional field theories, conformal field theories, etc. in quantum mechanics (81T40)

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