Congruence subgroups and generalized Frobenius-Schur indicators (Q711589)

This work, motivated in part by connections with conformal field theory, continues previous study of the authors and others in extending the notion of Frobenius-Schur indicators from their original definition for finite groups to more general structures. Here, the authors introduce the notion of a generalized Frobenius-Schur indicator for each object in a pivotal category over an algebraically closed field \(k\) of characteristic zero. The generalized indicator is the trace of a certain endomorphism determined by the object, an object in the center of the pivotal category, and two integers. After deriving some general properties, the first main result is a formula for the indicators in the case of a spherical fusion category. The authors then show how their generalized indicator relates to the equivariant Frobenius-Schur indicator recently introduced by \textit{Y. Sommerhäuser} and \textit{Y. Zhu} for the category of finite-dimensional modules for a finite-dimensional semisimple Hopf algebra. For a spherical fusion category, the authors then extend their generalized indicators to functionals (so-called equivariant indicators) on the Grothendieck algebra of the center of the category. They show that the set of all equivariant indicators is closed under the naturally associated action of \(SL_2({\mathbb Z})\) on the dual of the Grothendieck algebra. This also leads to another formula for the generalized Frobenius-Schur indicators. Of key interest in this paper are the congruence subgroup conjectures. It is first shown that the kernel of the canonical modular representation \(SL_2({\mathbb Z}) \to GL({\mathcal K})\) (where \({\mathcal K}\) is the Grothendieck algebra of the center of a spherical fusion category) is a congruence subgroup of level equal to the Frobenius-Schur exponent \(N\) of the category. That is, the kernel contains the kernel of the natural map \(SL_2({\mathbb Z}) \to SL_2({\mathbb Z}/N{\mathbb Z})\), and \(N\) is the least positive integer for which that is true. More generally, for a modular tensor category, it is similarly shown that the kernel of the projective modular representation \(SL_2({\mathbb Z}) \to PGL({\mathcal K})\) (where \({\mathcal K}\) is the Grothendieck algebra of the category) is a congruence subgroup of level equal to the Frobenius-Schur exponent \(N\) of the category. An example of these subgroups is given, and then, using the second congruence subgroup theorem, it is shown that the image of any ``modular representation'' \(SL_2({\mathbb Z}) \to GL_n(k)\) is finite. The authors also verify (for a modular tensor category) two conjectures on a certain family of scalars associated to a rational conformal field theory. Lastly, they introduce generalized Frobenius-Schur endomorphisms for an object in a pivotal fusion category.