Permutation orbifolds of Virasoro vertex algebras and \(W\)-algebras (Q827035)

We call a vertex algebra \(V\) strongly finitely generated if there exists a finite set of generators such that the collection of iterated Wick products of the generators and their derivatives spans \(V\) [\textit{A. R. Linshaw}, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2012, No. 17, 4014--4050 (2012; Zbl 1306.17016)]. Many known vertex algebras have this property, including affine, free field and lattice vertex algebras, as well as the \(\mathcal{W}\)-algebras \(\mathcal{W}_k(\mathfrak{g},f)\) associated via quantum Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction to a simple, finite-dimensional Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\) and a nilpotent element \(f\) in \(\mathfrak{g}\). It is a vertex algebra analogue of the original Hilbert's fourteenth problem to ask whether the invariant vertex algebras \(V^G\), where \(G\) is a reductive group of automorphisms of \(V\), is strongly finitely generated. In this context, given a vertex operator algebra \(V\) it is natural to consider the symmetric orbifold \((V^{\otimes n})^{S_n}\) of \(V^{\otimes n}\), namely the \(S_n\)-invariant subalgebra of the \(n\)-fold tensor product \(V^{\otimes n} = V \otimes \dots \otimes V\). Similarly, for any \(n\)-cycle \(\sigma\) of \(S_n\) one can consider the \(n\)-cyclic orbifold \((V^{\otimes n})^{\mathbb{Z}_n}\), namely the subalgebra of \(V^{\otimes n} \) invariant under \(\langle{\sigma}\rangle \cong \mathbb{Z}_n\). In this paper the authors investigate three types of permutation orbifolds: the \(S_2\)-orbifold of \(\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 2}\) and of \(\mathcal{L}_c^{\otimes 2}\), cyclic orbifolds of \(\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 3}\) and \(\mathcal{L}_c^{\otimes 3}\), and an expectional permutation orbifold of \(\mathcal{L}_{-22/5}^{\otimes 3}\). Here \(\mathcal{V}_c = V_{Vir}(c,0)\) is the universal Virasoro vertex operator algebra of central charge \(c\) and \(\mathcal{L}_c = L(c,0)\) is its unique simple quotient, where it is well known by Feign and Fuchs that \(\mathcal{V}_c \neq \mathcal{L}_c\) if and only if \(c=1-6(p-q)^2/pq\) where \(p,q \geq 2\) are coprime integers. The paper is organized as follows. In Section \(2\) basics facts concerning the Virasoro vertex algebra and the corresponding orbifolds are discussed. For example, since the conformal vector of \(\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes n}\) is \(\omega = \omega_1 + \dots + \omega_n\) then \(\text{Aut}\, \mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes n} = S_n\). Furthermore, since \(\mathcal{V}_c\) is isomorphic to \(U(Vir_{\leq 2})\) as a graded vector space then its character is \[ \text{ch}[\mathcal{V}_c](\tau) = \frac{1}{\prod_{n \geq 2} (1-q^n)} \,, \qquad q=e^{2\pi i \tau} \,, \] and by Theorem 6.1 of [\textit{A. Milas} et al., J. Math. Phys. 60, No. 2, 021703, 17 p. (2019; Zbl 1462.17031)] one can derive the characters of the orbifolds \((\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 2})^{S_2}\), \((\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 3})^{S_3}\) and \((\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 3})^{\mathbb{Z}_3}\), with analogue formulas holding in the \(\mathcal{L}_c\) case. In Section \(3\) the authors find and explicit set of strong generators for the symmetric orbifold \((\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 2})^{S_2}\) by direct computation: if \(U(z) = Y(\omega_1 - \omega_2, z)\) and \(W(a,b) = \colon \partial^a U \partial^b U \colon \) then \(W(a,b) = (-1)^b W(a+b,0) + \Psi\), where \(\Psi\) is a normally ordered polynomial of lower weight fields and their derivatives. The results of Section \(3\) are used in Section \(4\) to explicitly find a finite set of strong generators for \((\mathcal{L}_c^{\otimes 2})^{S_2}\), with the generating set depending on the central charge \(c\). In Section \(5\) the authors use the previous results to characterize the so called universal two parameter even spin algebra \(\mathcal{W}^{\text{ev}}(c, \lambda)\), which is a vertex operator algebra strongly generated by infinitely many fields in even weights [\textit{S. Kanade} and \textit{A. R. Linshaw}, Adv. Math. 355, Article ID 106774, 58 p. (2019; Zbl 1453.17016)]. Always in [\textit{S. Kanade} and \textit{A. R. Linshaw}, Adv. Math. 355, Article ID 106774, 58 p. (2019; Zbl 1453.17016)] it is proved that for each central charge \(c\) there is a family of parameters \(\lambda\) such that \(\mathcal{W}^{\text{ev}}(c, \lambda)\) has a unique simple quotient, and by considering other required relations the authors define two algebraic curves \(\lambda(c)\) and \(\mu(c)\). Such curves are known as truncation curves and their intersection corresponds to an isomorphism \((\mathcal{L}_{c} \otimes \mathcal{L}_{c} )^{S_2} \cong \mathcal{W}_k (\mathfrak{so}_{2n}, f_\text{princ})^{\mathbb{Z}_2}\), where \(n \geq 3\) is arbitrary while \(c\) and \(k\) both depend on \(n\). Here \(f_\text{princ}\) is a principal nilpotent element of \(\mathfrak{so}_{2n}\), namely a nilpotent element whose centralizer has minimal dimension equal to \(\text{rk} \, \mathfrak{g}\). In Section \(6\) the authors utilize an argument used in [\textit{A. Milas} et al., J. Math. Phys. 60, No. 2, 021703, 17 p. (2019; Zbl 1462.17031)] to find a finite strongly generating set of \((\mathcal{V}_c^{\otimes 3})^{\mathbb{Z}_3}\). This is the main result of this paper, whose proof is also used in Section \(7\) to provide a finite set of strong generators of the special cases \((\mathcal{L}_{-22/5}^{\otimes 3})^{\mathbb{Z}_3}\) and \((\mathcal{L}_{-22/5}^{\otimes 3})^{S_3}\). Section \(8\) is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the paper, and is devoted to analyze conformal embeddings of the form \(\mathcal{V}_c \hookrightarrow \mathcal{L}_{c'}^{\otimes n} \). Since \(\mathcal{V}_c\) is an universal vertex operator algebra, by using results described in [\textit{M. Wakimoto}, Lectures on infinite-dimensional Lie algebra. Singapore: World Scientific (2001; Zbl 1159.17311)] this can be done by using character theory, and more specifically one has to find all rational points on a certain family of quartic elliptic curves. Rational points of these curves are studied numerically by using the computer program \texttt{Magma} and abstractly by using the Poincaré-Hurwitz theorem: on every elliptic curve with infinitely many rational points there are infinitely many rational solutions around each rational point. The last Section is dedicated to outline questions and directions for future work.