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In this paper we continue to investigate the lattice models obtained from 2d CFTs via the construction introduced in [arXiv:2112.01563]. On the side of the 2d CFT we consider the cloaking boundary condition relative to a fixed fusion category F of topological line defects. The resulting lattice model realises the topological symmetry F exactly. We compute the state spaces and Boltzmann weights of these lattice model in the example of unitary Virasoro minimal models. We work directly with amplitudes, rather than with normalised correlators, and we provide a careful treatment of the Weyl anomaly factor in terms of the Liouville action. We numerically evaluate the Ising CFT on the torus with one hole and cloaking boundary condition in two channels, and illustrate in this example that the anomaly factors are essential to obtain matching results for the amplitudes. We show that lattice models obtained from Virasoro minimal models at lowest non-trivial cutoff can be exactly mapped to loop models. This provides a first non-trivial check that our lattice models can contain the 2d CFT they were constructed from in their phase diagram, and we propose a condition on the cloaking boundary condition for F under which we expect this to happen in general., Comment: 62 pages

The skein module for a d-dimensional manifold is a vector space spanned by embedded framed graphs decorated by a category A with suitable extra structure depending on the dimension d, modulo local relations which hold inside d-balls. For a full subcategory S of A, an S-admissible skein module is defined analogously, except that local relations for a given ball may only be applied if outside the ball at least one edge is coloured in S. In this paper we prove that admissible skein modules in any dimension satisfy excision, namely that the skein module of a glued manifold is expressed as a coend over boundary values on the boundary components glued together. We furthermore relate skein modules for different choices of S, apply our result to cylinder categories, and recover the relation to modified traces., Comment: 64 pages

From the input of an oriented three-dimensional TFT with framed line defects and a commutative $\Delta$-separable Frobenius algebra $A$ in the ribbon category of these line defects, we construct a three-dimensional spin TFT. The framed line defects of the spin TFT are labelled by certain equivariant modules over $A$, and the spin structure may or may not extend to a given line defect. Physically the spin TFT can be interpreted as the result of gauging a one-form symmetry in the original oriented TFT. This spin TFT extends earlier constructions in Blanchet-Masbaum (1996) and Blanchet (2005) [arXiv:math/0303240], and it reproduces the classification of abelian spin Chern-Simons theories in Belov-Moore (2005) [arXiv:hep-th/0505235]., Comment: 58 pages

Given a not necessarily semisimple modular tensor category C, we use the corresponding 3d TFT defined in [arXiv:1912.02063] to explicitly describe a modular functor as a symmetric monoidal 2-functor from a 2-category of oriented bordisms to a 2-category of finite linear categories. This recovers a result by Lyubashenko [arXiv:hep-th/9405168] obtained via generators and relations. Pulling back the modular functor for C to a 2-category of bordisms with orientation reversing involution cancels the gluing anomaly, and further pulling back to the original bordism category along a doubling functor leads to the modular functor for the Drinfeld centre Z(C)., Comment: 55 pages

This is a survey article for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd Edition. Topological defects are described in the context of the 2-dimensional Ising model on the lattice, in 2-dimensional quantum field theory, in topological quantum field theory in arbitrary dimension, and in higher-dimensional quantum field theory with a focus on 4-dimensional quantum electrodynamics., Comment: 37 pages, contribution to the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd Edition; v2: references added

Recently, large degeneracy based on product eigenstates has been found in spin ladders, Kagome-like lattices, and motif magnetism, connected to spin liquids, anyonic phases, and quantum scars. We unify these systems by a complete classification of product eigenstates of Heisenberg XXZ Hamiltonians with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on general graphs in the form of Kirchhoff rules for spin supercurrent. By this, we construct spin systems with extensive degree of degeneracy linked to exotic condensates which can be studied in atomic gases and quantum spin lattices., Comment: 6 pages article, 6 pages Supplemental Material, 2 figures, 3 tables

Mapping class group averages appear in the study of 3D gravity partition functions. In this paper, we work with 3D topological field theories to establish a bulk-boundary correspondence between such averages and correlators of 2D rational CFTs whose chiral mapping class group representations are irreducible and satisfy a finiteness property. We show that Ising-type modular fusion categories satisfy these properties on surfaces with or without field insertions, extending results in [Jian et al., JHEP 10 (2020) 129], and we comment on the absence of invertible global symmetries in the examples we consider., Comment: 45 pages

Levin-Wen models are a class of two-dimensional lattice spin models with a Hamiltonian that is a sum of commuting projectors, which describe topological phases of matter related to Drinfeld centres. We generalise this construction to lattice systems internal to a topological phase described by an arbitrary modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}$. The lattice system is defined in terms of an orbifold datum $\mathbb{A}$ in $\mathcal{C}$, from which we construct a state space and a commuting-projector Hamiltonian $H_{\mathbb{A}}$ acting on it. The topological phase of the degenerate ground states of $H_{\mathbb{A}}$ is characterised by a modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ defined directly in terms of $\mathbb{A}$. By choosing different $\mathbb{A}$'s for a fixed $\mathcal{C}$, one obtains precisely all phases which are Witt-equivalent to $\mathcal{C}$. As special cases we recover the Kitaev and the Levin-Wen lattice models from instances of orbifold data in the trivial modular fusion category of vector spaces, as well as phases obtained by anyon condensation in a given phase $\mathcal{C}$., Comment: 73 pages

We consider the link and three-manifold invariants in [DGGPR], which are defined in terms of certain non-semisimple finite ribbon categories $\mathcal{C}$ together with a choice of tensor ideal and modified trace. If the ideal is all of $\mathcal{C}$, these invariants agree with those defined by Lyubashenko in the 90's. We show that in that case the invariants depend on the objects labelling the link only through their simple composition factors, so that in order to detect non-trivial extensions one needs to pass to proper ideals. We compute examples of link and three-manifold invariants for $\mathcal{C}$ being the category of $N$ pairs of symplectic fermions. Using a quasi-Hopf algebra realisation of $\mathcal{C}$, we find that the Lyubashenko-invariant of a lens space is equal to the order of its first homology group to the power $N$, a relation we conjecture to hold for all rational homology spheres. For $N \ge 2$, $\mathcal{C}$ allows for tensor ideals $\mathcal{I}$ with a modified trace which are different from all of $\mathcal{C}$ and from the projective ideal. Using the theory of pull-back traces and symmetrised cointegrals, we show that the link invariant obtained from $\mathcal{I}$ can distinguish a continuum of indecomposable but reducible objects which all have the same composition series., Comment: 77 pages

This paper is a follow-up to [arXiv:2001.05055] in which two-dimensional conformal field theories in the presence of spin structures are studied. In the present paper we define four types of CFTs, distinguished by whether they need a spin structure or not in order to be well-defined, and whether their fields have parity or not. The cases of spin dependence without parity, and of parity without the need of a spin structure, have not, to our knowledge, been investigated in detail so far. We analyse these theories by extending the description of CFT correlators via three-dimensional topological field theory developed in [arXiv:hep-th/0204148] to include parity and spin. In each of the four cases, the defining data are a special Frobenius algebra $F$ in a suitable ribbon fusion category, such that the Nakayama automorphism of $F$ is the identity (oriented case) or squares to the identity (spin case). We use the TFT to define correlators in terms of $F$ and we show that these satisfy the relevant factorisation and single-valuedness conditions. We allow for world sheets with boundaries and topological line defects, and we specify the categories of boundary labels and the fusion categories of line defect labels for each of the four types. The construction can be understood in terms of topological line defects as gauging a possibly non-invertible symmetry. We analyse the case of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetry in some detail and provide examples of all four types of CFT, with Bershadsky-Polyakov models illustrating the two new types., Comment: v2 - expanded some discussions in the introduction and in the examples section - 112 pages

We construct a one-parameter family of lattice models starting from a two-dimensional rational conformal field theory on a torus with a regular lattice of holes, each of which is equipped with a conformal boundary condition. The lattice model is obtained by cutting the surface into triangles with clipped-off edges using open channel factorisation. The parameter is given by the hole radius. At finite radius, high energy states are suppressed and the model is effectively finite. In the zero-radius limit, it recovers the CFT amplitude exactly. In the touching hole limit, one obtains a topological field theory. If one chooses a special conformal boundary condition which we call "cloaking boundary condition", then for each value of the radius the fusion category of topological line defects of the CFT is contained in the lattice model. The fact that the full topological symmetry of the initial CFT is realised exactly is a key feature of our lattice models. We provide an explicit recursive procedure to evaluate the interaction vertex on arbitrary states. As an example, we study the lattice model obtained from the Ising CFT on a torus with one hole, decomposed into two lattice cells. We numerically compare the truncated lattice model to the CFT expression obtained from expanding the boundary state in terms of the hole radius and we find good agreement at intermediate values of the radius., Comment: 69 pages, 25 figures, published version after minor revision

We specialise the construction of orbifold graph TQFTs introduced in Carqueville et al., arXiv:2101.02482 to Reshetikhin-Turaev defect TQFTs. We explain that the modular fusion category ${\mathcal{C}}_{\mathcal{A}}$ constructed in Mulevi\v{c}ius-Runkel, arXiv:2002.00663 from an orbifold datum $\mathcal{A}$ in a given modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}$ is a special case of the Wilson line ribbon categories introduced as part of the general theory of orbifold graph TQFTs. Using this, we prove that the Reshetikhin-Turaev TQFT obtained from ${\mathcal{C}}_{\mathcal{A}}$ is equivalent to the orbifold of the TQFT for $\mathcal{C}$ with respect to the orbifold datum $\mathcal{A}$., Comment: 56 pages

A modular fusion category C allows one to define projective representations of the mapping class groups of closed surfaces of any genus. We show that if all these representations are irreducible, then C has a unique Morita-class of simple non-degenerate algebras, namely that of the tensor unit. This improves on a result by Andersen and Fjelstad, albeit under stronger assumptions. One motivation to look at this problem comes from questions in three-dimensional quantum gravity., Comment: 32 pages, v2: corrected the level shift of sl(2), adapted Example 5.3

We study surface defects in three-dimensional topological quantum field theories which separate different theories of Reshetikhin-Turaev type. Based on the new notion of a Frobenius algebra over two commutative Frobenius algebras, we present an explicit and computable construction of such defects. It specialises to the construction in Carqueville et al., arXiv:1710.10214 if all 3-strata are labelled by the same topological field theory. We compare the results to the model-independent analysis in Fuchs et al., arXiv:1203.4568 and find agreement., Comment: 42 pages

A generalised orbifold of a defect TQFT $\mathcal{Z}$ is another TQFT $\mathcal{Z}_{\mathcal{A}}$ obtained by performing a state sum construction internal to $\mathcal{Z}$. As an input it needs a so-called orbifold datum $\mathcal{A}$ which is used to label stratifications coming from duals of triangulations and is subject to conditions encoding the invariance under Pachner moves. In this paper we extend the construction of generalised orbifolds of $3$-dimensional TQFTs to include line defects. The result is a TQFT acting on 3-bordisms with embedded ribbon graphs labelled by a ribbon category $\mathcal{W}_{\mathcal{A}}$ that we canonically associate to $\mathcal{Z}$ and $\mathcal{A}$. We also show that for special orbifold data, the internal state sum construction can be performed on more general skeletons than those dual to triangulations. This makes computations with $\mathcal{Z}_{\mathcal{A}}$ easier to handle in specific examples., Comment: 67 pages

In [arXiv:1912.02063], we constructed 3-dimensional Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs) using not necessarily semisimple modular categories. Here, we study projective representations of mapping class groups of surfaces defined by these TQFTs, and we express the action of a set of generators through the algebraic data of the underlying modular category $\mathcal{C}$. This allows us to prove that the projective representations induced from the non-semisimple TQFTs of [arXiv:1912.02063] are equivalent to those obtained by Lyubashenko via generators and relations in [arXiv:hep-th/9405167]. Finally, we show that, when $\mathcal{C}$ is the category of finite-dimensional representations of the small quantum group of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$, the action of all Dehn twists for surfaces without marked points has infinite order., Comment: 41 pages, minor corrections, Section 2.4 and Appendix C added

An orbifold datum is a collection $\mathbb{A}$ of algebraic data in a modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}$. It allows one to define a new modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ in a construction that is a generalisation of taking the Drinfeld centre of a fusion category. Under certain simplifying assumptions we characterise orbifold data $\mathbb{A}$ in terms of scalars satisfying polynomial equations and give an explicit expression which computes the number of isomorphism classes of simple objects in $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$. In Ising-type modular categories we find new examples of orbifold data which - in an appropriate sense - exhibit Fibonacci fusion rules. The corresponding orbifold modular categories have 11 simple objects, and for a certain choice of parameters one obtains the modular category for $sl(2)$ at level 10. This construction inverts the extension of the latter category by the $E_6$ commutative algebra., Comment: 42 pages

For $\mathcal{C}$ a finite tensor category we consider four versions of the central monad, $A_1, \dots, A_4$ on $\mathcal{C}$. Two of them are Hopf monads, and for $\mathcal{C}$ pivotal, so are the remaining two. In that case all $A_i$ are isomorphic as Hopf monads. We define a monadic cointegral for $A_i$ to be an $A_i$-module morphism $\mathbf{1} \to A_i(D)$, where $D$ is the distinguished invertible object of $\mathcal{C}$. We relate monadic cointegrals to the categorical cointegral introduced by Shimizu (2019), and, in case $\mathcal{C}$ is braided, to an integral for the braided Hopf algebra $\mathcal{L} = \int^X X^\vee \otimes X$ in $\mathcal{C}$ studied by Lyubashenko (1995). Our main motivation stems from the application to finite dimensional quasi-Hopf algebras $H$. For the category of finite-dimensional $H$-modules, we relate the four monadic cointegrals (two of which require $H$ to be pivotal) to four existing notions of cointegrals for quasi-Hopf algebras: the usual left/right cointegrals of Hausser and Nill (1994), as well as so-called $\gamma$-symmetrised cointegrals in the pivotal case, for $\gamma$ the modulus of $H$. For (not necessarily semisimple) modular tensor categories $\mathcal{C}$, Lyubashenko gave actions of surface mapping class groups on certain Hom-spaces of $\mathcal{C}$, in particular of $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ on $\mathcal{C}(\mathcal{L},\mathbf{1})$. In the case of a factorisable ribbon quasi-Hopf algebra, we give a simple expression for the action of $S$ and $T$ which uses the monadic cointegral., Comment: 59 pages; to appear in Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, Volume 225, Issue 10, October 2021, 106678. Referees' comments taken into account

In Carqueville et al., arXiv:1809.01483, the notion of an orbifold datum $\mathbb{A}$ in a modular fusion category $\mathcal{C}$ was introduced as part of a generalised orbifold construction for Reshetikhin-Turaev TQFTs. In this paper, given a simple orbifold datum $\mathbb{A}$ in $\mathcal{C}$, we introduce a ribbon category $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ and show that it is again a modular fusion category. The definition of $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ is motivated by properties of Wilson lines in the generalised orbifold. We analyse two examples in detail: (i) when $\mathbb{A}$ is given by a simple commutative $\Delta$-separable Frobenius algebra $A$ in $\mathcal{C}$; (ii) when $\mathbb{A}$ is an orbifold datum in $\mathcal{C} = \operatorname{Vect}$, built from a spherical fusion category $\mathcal{S}$. We show that in case (i), $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ is ribbon-equivalent to the category of local modules of $A$, and in case (ii), to the Drinfeld centre of $\mathcal{S}$. The category $\mathcal{C}_{\mathbb{A}}$ thus unifies these two constructions into a single algebraic setting., Comment: 58 pages

We study fermionic conformal field theories on surfaces with spin structure in the presence of boundaries, defects, and interfaces. We obtain the relevant crossing relations, taking particular care with parity signs and signs arising from the change of spin structure in different limits. We define fermionic classifying algebras for boundaries, defects, and interfaces, which allow one to read off the elementary boundary conditions, etc. As examples, we define fermionic extensions of Virasoro minimal models and give explicit solutions for the spectrum and bulk structure constants. We show how the $A$- and $D$-type fermionic Virasoro minimal models are related by a parity-shift operation which we define in general. We study the boundaries, defects, and interfaces in several examples, in particular in the fermionic Ising model, i.e. the free fermion, in the fermionic tri-critical Ising model, i.e. the first unitary $N=1$ superconformal minimal model, and in the supersymmetric Lee-Yang model, of which there are two distinct versions that are related by parity-shift., Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures

We use modified traces to renormalize Lyubashenko's closed 3-manifold invariants coming from twist non-degenerate finite unimodular ribbon categories. Our construction produces new topological invariants which we upgrade to 2+1-TQFTs under the additional assumption of factorizability. The resulting functors provide monoidal extensions of Lyubashenko's mapping class group representations, as discussed in arXiv:2010.14852. This general framework encompasses important examples of non-semisimple modular categories coming from the representation theory of quasi-Hopf algebras, which were left out of previous non-semisimple TQFT constructions., Comment: 49 pages; v3: added pictures and references

A string-net model associates a vector space to a surface in terms of graphs decorated by objects and morphisms of a pivotal fusion category modulo local relations. String-net models are usually considered for spherical fusion categories, and in this case the vector spaces agree with the state spaces of the corresponding Turaev-Viro topological quantum field theory. In the present work some effects of dropping the sphericality condition are investigated. In one example of non-spherical pivotal fusion categories, the string-net space counts the number of r-spin structures on a surface and carries an isomorphic representation of the mapping class group. Another example concerns the string-net space of a sphere with one marked point labelled by a simple object Z of the Drinfeld centre. This space is found to be non-zero iff Z is isomorphic to a non-unit simple object determined by the non-spherical pivotal structure. The last example mirrors the effect of deforming the stress tensor of a two-dimensional conformal field theory, such as in the topological twist of a supersymmetric theory., Comment: 38 pages

Let H be a finite-dimensional unimodular pivotal quasi-Hopf algebra over a field k, and let H-mod be the pivotal tensor category of finite-dimensional H-modules. We give a bijection between left (resp. right) modified traces on the tensor ideal H-pmod of projective modules and left (resp. right) cointegrals for H. The non-zero left/right modified traces are non-degenerate, and we show that non-degenerate left/right modified traces can only exist for unimodular H. This generalises results of Beliakova, Blanchet, and Gainutdinov from Hopf algebras to quasi-Hopf algebras. As an example we compute cointegrals and modified traces for the family of symplectic fermion quasi-Hopf algebras., Comment: 21 pages; generalized Lemma 3.7 to the non-unimodular setting

We construct three classes of generalised orbifolds of Reshetikhin-Turaev theory for a modular tensor category $\mathcal{C}$, using the language of defect TQFT from [arXiv:1705.06085]: (i) spherical fusion categories give orbifolds for the "trivial" defect TQFT associated to vect, (ii) $G$-crossed extensions of $\mathcal{C}$ give group orbifolds for any finite group $G$, and (iii) we construct orbifolds from commutative $\Delta$-separable symmetric Frobenius algebras in $\mathcal{C}$. We also explain how the Turaev-Viro state sum construction fits into our framework by proving that it is isomorphic to the orbifold of case (i). Moreover, we treat the cases (ii) and (iii) in the more general setting of ribbon tensor categories. For case (ii) we show how Morita equivalence leads to isomorphic orbifolds, and we discuss Tambara-Yamagami categories as particular examples., Comment: 51 pages; v2: minor improvements and slightly extended exposition

Area-dependent quantum field theory is a modification of two-dimensional topological quantum field theory, where one equips each connected component of a bordism with a positive real number - interpreted as area - which behaves additively under glueing. As opposed to topological theories, in area-dependent theories the state spaces can be infinite-dimensional. We introduce the notion of regularised Frobenius algebras and show that area-dependent theories are in one-to-one correspondence to commutative regularised Frobenius algebras. We provide a state-sum construction for area-dependent theories, which includes theories with defects. Defect lines are labeled by dualisable bimodules over regularised algebras. We show that the tensor product of such bimodules agrees with the fusion of defect lines, which is defined as the limit where the area separating two defect lines is taken to zero. All these constructions are exemplified by two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with compact gauge group and with Wilson lines as defects, which we treat in detail., Comment: 100 pages

We give a combinatorial model for r-spin surfaces with parametrised boundary based on Novak (2015). The r-spin structure is encoded in terms of $\mathbb{Z}_r$-valued indices assigned to the edges of a polygonal decomposition. This combinatorial model is designed for our state sum construction of two-dimensional topological field theories on r-spin surfaces. We show that an example of such a topological field theory computes the Arf-invariant of an r-spin surface as introduced in Geiges, Gonzalo (2012) and Randal-Williams (2014). This implies in particular that the r-spin Arf-invariant is constant on orbits of the mapping class group, providing an alternative proof of that fact., Comment: v2: 52 pages, removed classification of mapping class group orbits as suggested by referee, version to appear in Journal of Mathematical Physics

We give a new factorisable ribbon quasi-Hopf algebra U, whose underlying algebra is that of the restricted quantum group for sl(2) at a 2p'th root of unity. The representation category of U is conjecturally ribbon-equivalent to that of the triplet vertex operator algebra W(p). We obtain U via a simple current extension from the unrolled restricted quantum group at the same root of unity. The representation category of the unrolled quantum group is conjecturally equivalent to that of the singlet vertex operator algebra M(p), and our construction is parallel to extending M(p) to W(p). We illustrate the procedure in the simpler example of passing from the Hopf algebra for the group algebra CZ to a quasi-Hopf algebra for CZ_{2p}, which corresponds to passing from the Heisenberg vertex operator algebra to a lattice extension., Comment: 71pp

A modular tensor category $\mathcal{C}$ gives rise to a Reshetikhin-Turaev type topological quantum field theory which is defined on 3-dimensional bordisms with embedded $\mathcal{C}$-coloured ribbon graphs. We extend this construction to include bordisms with surface defects which in turn can meet along line defects. The surface defects are labelled by $\Delta$-separable symmetric Frobenius algebras and the line defects by "multi-modules" which are equivariant with respect to a cyclic group action. Our invariant cannot distinguish non-isotopic embeddings of 2-spheres, but we give an example where it distinguishes non-isotopic embeddings of 2-tori., Comment: 38 pages; v2: minor corrections and improvements

We consider Y-system functional equations of the form $$ Y_n(x+i)Y_n(x-i)=\prod_{m=1}^N (1+Y_m(x))^{G_{nm}}$$ and the corresponding nonlinear integral equations of the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz. We prove an existence and uniqueness result for solutions of these equations, subject to appropriate conditions on the analytical properties of the $Y_n$, in particular the absence of zeros in a strip around the real axis. The matrix $G_{nm}$ must have non-negative real entries, and be irreducible and diagonalisable over $\mathbb{R}$ with spectral radius less than 2. This includes the adjacency matrices of finite Dynkin diagrams, but covers much more as we do not require $G_{nm}$ to be integers. Our results specialise to the constant Y-system, proving existence and uniqueness of a strictly positive solution in that case., Comment: 58 pages, 1 figure; v2: remark 2.15 added, references added and small corrections made

We introduce a family of factorisable ribbon quasi-Hopf algebras $Q(N)$ for $N$ a positive integer: as an algebra, $Q(N)$ is the semidirect product of $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{Z}_2$ with the direct sum of a Grassmann and a Clifford algebra in $2N$ generators. We show that $Rep Q(N)$ is ribbon equivalent to the symplectic fermion category $SF(N)$ that was computed by the third author from conformal blocks of the corresponding logarithmic conformal field theory. The latter category in turn is conjecturally ribbon equivalent to representations of $V_{ev}$, the even part of the symplectic fermion vertex operator super algebra. Using the formalism developed in our previous paper we compute the projective $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$-action on the centre of $Q(N)$ as obtained from Lyubashenko's general theory of mapping class group actions for factorisable finite ribbon categories. This allows us to test a conjectural non-semisimple version of the modular Verlinde formula: we verify that the $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$-action computed from $Q(N)$ agrees projectively with that on pseudo trace functions of $V_{ev}$., Comment: 81pp; v3: extended introduction; new Remark 5.4 about decomposition of SL(2,Z) representations; new Remarks 6.2 and 6.7 on pseudo-trace functions; typos fixed, references updated; version for publication in Advances in Mathematics

We introduce the notion of $n$-dimensional topological quantum field theory (TQFT) with defects as a symmetric monoidal functor on decorated stratified bordisms of dimension $n$. The familiar closed or open-closed TQFTs are special cases of defect TQFTs, and for $n=2$ and $n=3$ our general definition recovers what had previously been studied in the literature. Our main construction is that of "generalised orbifolds" for any $n$-dimensional defect TQFT: Given a defect TQFT $\mathcal{Z}$, one obtains a new TQFT $\mathcal{Z}_{\mathcal{A}}$ by decorating the Poincar\'e duals of triangulated bordisms with certain algebraic data $\mathcal{A}$ and then evaluating with $\mathcal{Z}$. The orbifold datum $\mathcal{A}$ is constrained by demanding invariance under $n$-dimensional Pachner moves. This procedure generalises both state sum models and gauging of finite symmetry groups, for any $n$. After developing the general theory, we focus on the case $n=3$., Comment: 79 pages; v2: modified definition of stratified bordism category; v3: minor corrections and modifications

These notes offer a lightening introduction to topological quantum field theory in its functorial axiomatisation, assuming no or little prior exposure. We lay some emphasis on the connection between the path integral motivation and the definition in terms symmetric monoidal categories, and we highlight the algebraic formulation emerging from a formal generators-and-relations description. This allows one to understand (oriented, closed) 1- and 2-dimensional TQFTs in terms of a finite amount of algebraic data, while already the 3-dimensional case needs an infinite amount of data. We evade these complications by instead discussing some aspects of 3-dimensional extended TQFTs, and their relation to braided monoidal categories., Comment: 48 pages

For C a factorisable and pivotal finite tensor category over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero we show: 1) C always contains a simple projective object; 2) if C is in addition ribbon, the internal characters of projective modules span a submodule for the projective SL(2,Z)-action; 3) the action of the Grothendieck ring of C on the span of internal characters of projective objects can be diagonalised; 4) the linearised Grothendieck ring of C is semisimple iff C is semisimple. Results 1-3 remain true in positive characteristic under an extra assumption. Result 1 implies that the tensor ideal of projective objects in C carries a unique-up-to-scalars modified trace function. We express the modified trace of open Hopf links coloured by projectives in terms of S-matrix elements. Furthermore, we give a Verlinde-like formula for the decomposition of tensor products of projective objects which uses only the modular S-transformation restricted to internal characters of projective objects. We compute the modified trace in the example of symplectic fermion categories, and we illustrate how the Verlinde-like formula for projective objects can be applied there., Comment: 61 pages, v2: minor changes + references updated

We study the universal Hopf algebra L of Majid and Lyubashenko in the case that the underlying ribbon category is the category of representations of a finite dimensional ribbon quasi-Hopf algebra A. We show that L=A* with coadjoint action and compute the Hopf algebra structure morphisms of L in terms of the defining data of A. We give explicitly the condition on A which makes Rep(A) factorisable and compute Lyubashenko's projective SL(2,Z)-action on the centre of A in this case. The point of this exercise is to provide the groundwork for the applications to ribbon categories arising in logarithmic conformal field theories - in particular symplectic fermions and W_p-models - and to test a conjectural non-semisimple Verlinde formula., Comment: 62 pages; v2: corrected inaccuracies in section 4.4 and proposition 5.3, references changed, v3: minor changes, inaccuracies in Prop 4.5, Cor 5.5 fixed, improvements in Sec 7.6 and Rem 7.10, refs updated

Let V be the even part of the vertex operator super-algebra of r pairs of symplectic fermions. Up to two conjectures, we show that V admits a unique holomorphic extension if r is a multiple of 8, and no holomorphic extension otherwise. This is implied by two results obtained in this paper: 1) If r is a multiple of 8, one possible holomorphic extension is given by the lattice vertex operator algebra for the even self dual lattice $D_r^+$ with shifted stress tensor. 2) We classify Lagrangian algebras in SF(h), a ribbon category associated to symplectic fermions. The classification of holomorphic extensions of V follows from 1) and 2) if one assumes that SF(h) is ribbon equivalent to Rep(V), and that simple modules of extensions of V are in one-to-one relation with simple local modules of the corresponding commutative algebra in SF(h).

We build two-dimensional quantum field theories on spin surfaces starting from theories on oriented surfaces with networks of topological defect lines and junctions. The construction uses a combinatorial description of the spin structure in terms of a triangulation equipped with extra data. The amplitude for the spin surfaces is defined to be the amplitude for the underlying oriented surface together with a defect network dual to the triangulation. Independence of the triangulation and of the other choices follows if the line defect and junctions are obtained from a Delta-separable Frobenius algebra with involutive Nakayama automorphism in the monoidal category of topological defects. For rational conformal field theory we can give a more explicit description of the defect category, and we work out two examples related to free fermions in detail: the Ising model and the so(n) WZW model at level 1., Comment: 29 pages

We prove a tensor equivalence between full subcategories of a) graded matrix factorisations of the potential x^d-y^d and b) representations of the N=2 minimal super vertex operator algebra at central charge 3-6/d, where d is odd. The subcategories are given by a) permutation-type matrix factorisations with consecutive index sets, and b) Neveu-Schwarz-type representations. The physical motivation for this result is the Landau-Ginzburg / conformal field theory correspondence, where it amounts to the equivalence of a subset of defects on both sides of the correspondence. Our work builds on results by Brunner and Roggenkamp [arXiv:0707.0922], where an isomorphism of fusion rules was established., Comment: 29 pages

We provide a combinatorial model for spin surfaces. Given a triangulation of an oriented surface, a spin structure is encoded by assigning to each triangle a preferred edge, and to each edge an orientation and a sign, subject to certain admissibility conditions. The behaviour of this data under Pachner moves is then used to define a state sum topological field theory on spin surfaces. The algebraic data is a Delta-separable Frobenius algebra whose Nakayama automorphism is an involution. We find that a simple extra condition on the algebra guarantees that the amplitude is zero unless the combinatorial data satisfies the admissibility condition required for the reconstruction of the spin structure., Comment: 71 pages; v2: added Theorem 3.18, several small changes, version accepted in J. Knot Th. and Its Ramifications

To a graded finite-rank matrix factorisation of the difference of two homogeneous potentials one can assign two numbers, the left and right quantum dimension. The existence of such a matrix factorisation with non-zero quantum dimensions defines an equivalence relation between potentials, giving rise to non-obvious equivalences of categories. Restricted to ADE singularities, the resulting equivalence classes of potentials are those of type {A_{d-1}} for d odd, {A_{d-1},D_{d/2+1}} for d even but not in {12,18,30}, and {A_{11}, D_7, E_6}, {A_{17}, D_{10}, E_7} and {A_{29}, D_{16}, E_8}. This is the result expected from two-dimensional rational conformal field theory, and it directly leads to new descriptions of and relations between the associated (derived) categories of matrix factorisations and Dynkin quiver representations., Comment: 29 pages

This is the part II of a two-part work started in arXiv:0807.3356 [math.QA]. In part I, Cardy algebras were studied, a notion which arises from the classification of genus-0,1 open-closed rational conformal field theories. In this part, we prove that a Cardy algebra also satisfies the higher genus factorisation and modular-invariance properties formulated in arXiv:hep-th/0612306 in terms of the notion of a solution to the sewing constraints. We present the proof by showing that the latter notion, which is defined as a monoidal natural transformation, can be expressed in terms of generators and relations, which correspond exactly to the defining data and axioms of a Cardy algebra., Comment: 79 pages, 244 figures, comments are welcome

We give an alternative presentation of braided monoidal categories. Instead of the usual associativity and braiding we have just one constraint (the b-structure). In the unital case, the coherence conditions for a b-structure are shown to be equivalent to the usual associativity, unit and braiding axioms. We also discuss the next dimensional version, that is, b-structures on bicategories. As an application, we show how special b-categories result in the Yang-Baxter equation, and how special b-bicategories produce Zamolodchikov's tetrahedron equation. Finally, we define a cohomology theory (the b-cohomology) which plays a role analogous to the one abelian group cohomology has for braided monoidal categories.