A short construction of the Zhu algebra (Q2414537)

As the title suggests, this paper provides an efficient construction of the Zhu algebra. To accomplish this, the authors first consider a vertex algebra \(V\) and a Laurent series \(f\in \mathbb{C}((t))\) and introduce the \(f\)-product defined as the bilinear operation \(V\otimes V\to V\), \(a\otimes b \mapsto a_{(f)}b:=\operatorname{Res}_tf(t)a(t)b\). After obtaining some preliminary facts about the \(f\)-product, they consider the \(\mathbb{C}\)-linear span of \(f\)-products in \(V\), that is, the subspace of \(V\) of the form \(V_{(f)}V=\langle a_{(f)}b \mid a,b\in V\rangle\). Letting \(f\) and \(g\) be Laurent series, and being motivated to have \(V_{(g)}V\) be a nontrivial ideal for the \(f\)-product and \(\textbf{1}\) be the unit of \(V/V_{(g)}V\), the authors impose some restrictions on \(f\) and \(g\), including that \(f(z)\in z^{-1}+\mathbb{C}[[z]]\). With these limitations in place, the authors show that either (i) \(f(z)=z^{-1}\) or (ii) \(f(z)=ce^{cz}/(e^{cz}-1)\) for any \(c\not =0\). The main result of the paper then states that if \(f\) is of the form (i) or (ii) and \(g\) is the derivative of \(f\), then the quotient \(V/V_{(g)}V\) is an associative algebra with respect to the \(f\)-product, and \(\textbf{1}\) is a unit. The algebra associated for the case (i) is Zhu's \(C_2\)-algebra, while in the case (ii) it is isomorphic to Zhu's algebra \(A(V)\) for any \(c\not =0\) (the isomorphism for all \(c\) is due to Huang). An advantage of the framework above is that the construction of the Zhu algebra is not dependent on the conformal structure of \(V\) as it is in other constructions. Additionally, the authors provide some remarks on how additional structures (but lacking some desired properties) can be obtained by relaxing the requirement that \(f(z)\in z^{-1}+\mathbb{C}[[z]]\). Finally, the results are developed by working with elliptic functions and Eisenstein series, and in doing so, the authors note a way that some classical identities concerning Eisenstein series and Bernoulli numbers can be obtained.