Automorphic forms and Lie superalgebras (Q859486)

The author gives an exposition of the theory of Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras and of the ongoing classification and explicit construction project of a subclass of these infinite dimensional Lie algebras. Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras are generalizations of symmetrizable Kac-Moody Lie algebras, themselves generalizations of finite dimensional semi-simple Lie algebras. That this further level of generality is needed was first shown in the proof of the moonshine theorem given by Borcherds, where the theory of Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras plays a central role. The idea is to try to classify all the Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras to which one can associate a vector valued modular form which is holomorphic on the upper half plane in such a way that this modular form will contain all the essential information on the corresponding Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebra. In all known cases (except the Monster one), a Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebra can be realized as a quotient of a particular subspace of the lattice vertex algebra derived from its root lattice when the lattice is even. After the introductory chapter the author defines in chapter 2 the Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie superalgebras and explains what their structure is. In chapter 3 he introduces vector valued modular forms and shows how to derive their theta transforms. In chapter 4 he presents the aspects of the theory of \(\Gamma\)-graded vertex algebras necessary for the construction of Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie superalgebras. In chapter 5 he gives the tools to understand the classification of the ``interesting'' Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie superalgebras.