Quantum groups and Nichols algebras acting on conformal field theories (Q2219322)

This work is motivated by the Kazhdan-Lusztig correspondence, which asks for the construction of a logarithmic vertex algebra \(\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g},\ell)\) (with \(\mathfrak{g}\) a finite-dimensional semisimple complex Lie algebra and \(\ell\) the order of the root of unity \(q\)) whose representation category is equivalent to that of the small quantum group \(u_q(\mathfrak{g})\). The construction of the screening operators follows the approach introduced by the author in his diploma thesis [Vertex algebras constructed from Hopf algebra structure. LMU Munich (Diploma thesis) (2007)] which encodes the vertex algebra power series combinatorics into Hopf algebra structures. The (non-local) screening operators are obtained as (formal) residues of certain lattice intertwining operators. The main result is that these screening operators satisfy indeed the relations of the Borel part \(u_q(\mathfrak{g})^+\) of \(u_q(\mathfrak{g})\). More precisely: for basis elements \(\alpha_1,\ldots,\alpha_r\) in a positive definite lattice satisfying \(\|\alpha_t\|\le 1\), the screening operators \(\mathfrak{Z}_{\alpha_1},\ldots,\mathfrak{Z}_{\alpha_r}\) fulfill the relations of the Nichols algebra associated to the diagonal braiding matrix \(q_{ij} = e^{i\pi(\alpha_i,\alpha_j)}\). The proof is based on a class of multivalued analytic functions which generalize the Selberg integrals, and it is shown that the zeroes of these functions correspond to the algebraic relations in the respective Nichols algebra.