Monstrous moonshine and the classification of CFT

Abstract

In these notes, based on lectures given in Istanbul, we give an introduction both to Monstrous Moonshine and to the classification of rational conformal field theories, using this as an excuse to explore several related structures and go on a little tour of modern math. We will discuss Lie algebras, modular functions, the finite simple group classification, vertex operator algebras, Fermat's Last Theorem, category theory, (generalised) Kac-Moody algebras, denominator identities, the A-D-E meta-pattern, representations of affine algebras, Galois theory, etc. This work is informal and pedagogical, and aimed mostly at grad students in math or math phys, but I hope that many interested nonexperts will find something of value here -- like any good Walt Disney movie I try not to completely ignore the `grown-ups'. My emphasis is on ideas and motivations, so these notes are intended to complement other papers and books where this material is presented with more technical detail. The level of difficulty varies significantly from topic to topic. The two parts -- in fact any of the sections -- can be read independently.