arXiv subjects

Christoph Schweigert

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph Schweigert.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

A trace for bimodule categories

We study a 2-functor that assigns to a bimodule category over a finite k-linear tensor category a k-linear abelian category. This 2-functor can be regarded as a category-valued trace for 1-morphisms in the tricategory of finite tensor categories. It is defined by a universal property that is a categorification of Hochschild homology of bimodules over an algebra. We present several equivalent realizations of this 2-functor and show that it has a coherent cyclic invariance. Our results have applications to categories associated to circles in three-dimensional topological field theories with defects. This is made explicit for the subclass of Dijkgraaf-Witten topological field theories.

math.CT↗

arXiv2015

Low-dimensional topology, low-dimensional field theory and representation theory

Structures in low-dimensional topology and low-dimensional geometry -- often combined with ideas from (quantum) field theory -- can explain and inspire concepts in algebra and in representation theory and their categorified versions. We present a personal view on some of these instances which have appeared within the Research Priority Programme SPP 1388 ``Representation theory''.

math.RT↗

arXiv2015

On the Brauer groups of symmetries of abelian Dijkgraaf-Witten theories

Symmetries of three-dimensional topological field theories are naturally defined in terms of invertible topological surface defects. Symmetry groups are thus Brauer-Picard groups. We present a gauge theoretic realization of all symmetries of abelian Dijkgraaf-Witten theories. The symmetry group for a Dijkgraaf-Witten theory with gauge group a finite abelian group $A$, and with vanishing 3-cocycle, is generated by group automorphisms of $A$, by automorphisms of the trivial Chern-Simons 2-gerbe on the stack of $A$-bundles, and by partial e-m dualities. We show that transmission functors naturally extracted from extended topological field theories with surface defects give a physical realization of the bijection between invertible bimodule categories of a fusion category and braided auto-equivalences of its Drinfeld center. The latter provides the labels for bulk Wilson lines; it follows that a symmetry is completely characterized by its action on bulk Wilson lines.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Symmetries and defects in three-dimensional topological field theory

Boundary conditions and defects of any codimension are natural parts of any quantum field theory. Surface defects in three-dimensional topological field theories of Turaev-Reshetikhin type have applications to two-dimensional conformal field theories, in solid state physics and in quantum computing. We explain an obstruction to the existence of surface defects that takes values in a Witt group. We then turn to surface defects in Dijkgraaf-Witten theories and their construction in terms of relative bundles; this allows one to exhibit Brauer-Picard groups as symmetry groups of three-dimensional topological field theories.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

A geometric approach to boundaries and surface defects in Dijkgraaf-Witten theories

Dijkgraaf-Witten theories are extended three-dimensional topological field theories of Turaev-Viro type. They can be constructed geometrically from categories of bundles via linearization. Boundaries and surface defects or interfaces in quantum field theories are of interest in various applications and provide structural insight. We perform a geometric study of boundary conditions and surface defects in Dijkgraaf-Witten theories. A crucial tool is the linearization of categories of relative bundles. We present the categories of generalized Wilson lines produced by such a linearization procedure. We establish that they agree with the Wilson line categories that are predicted by the general formalism for boundary conditions and surface defects in three-dimensional topological field theories that has been developed in arXive:1203.4568.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Partially dualized Hopf algebras have equivalent Yetter-Drinfel'd modules

Given a Hopf algebra $H$ and a projection $H\to A$ to a Hopf subalgebra, we construct a Hopf algebra $r(H)$, called the partial dualization of $H$, with a projection to the Hopf algebra dual to $A$. This construction provides powerful techniques in the general setting of braided monoidal categories. The construction comprises in particular the reflections of generalized quantum groups, arxiv:1111.4673 . We prove a braided equivalence between the Yetter-Drinfel'd modules over a Hopf algebra and its partial dualization.

math.QA↗

arXiv2014

A Serre-Swan theorem for gerbe modules on étale Lie groupoids

Given a bundle gerbe on a compact smooth manifold or, more generally, on a compact étale Lie groupoid $M$, we show that the corresponding category of gerbe modules, if it is non-trivial, is equivalent to the category of finitely generated projective modules over an Azumaya algebra on $M$. This result can be seen as an equivariant Serre-Swan theorem for twisted vector bundles.

math.AT↗

arXiv2013

A note on permutation twist defects in topological bilayer phases

We present a mathematical derivation of some of the most important physical quantities arising in topological bilayer systems with permutation twist defects as introduced by Barkeshli et al. in cond-mat/1208.4834. A crucial tool is the theory of permutation equivariant modular functors developed by Barmeier et al. in math.CT/0812.0986 and math.QA/1004.1825.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

From non-semisimple Hopf algebras to correlation functions for logarithmic CFT

We use factorizable finite tensor categories, and specifically the representation categories of factorizable ribbon Hopf algebras H, as a laboratory for exploring bulk correlation functions in local logarithmic conformal field theories. For any ribbon Hopf algebra automorphism omega of H we present a candidate for the space of bulk fields and endow it with a natural structure of a commutative symmetric Frobenius algebra. We derive an expression for the corresponding bulk partition functions as bilinear combinations of irreducible characters; as a crucial ingredient this involves the Cartan matrix of the category. We also show how for any candidate bulk state space of the type we consider, correlation functions of bulk fields for closed oriented world sheets of any genus can be constructed that are invariant under the natural action of the relevant mapping class group.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Bicategories for boundary conditions and for surface defects in 3-d TFT

We analyze topological boundary conditions and topological surface defects in three-dimensional topological field theories of Reshetikhin-Turaev type based on arbitrary modular tensor categories. Boundary conditions are described by central functors that lift to trivializations in the Witt group of modular tensor categories. The bicategory of boundary conditions can be described through the bicategory of module categories over any such trivialization. A similar description is obtained for topological surface defects. Using string diagrams for bicategories we also establish a precise relation between special symmetric Frobenius algebras and Wilson lines involving special defects. We compare our results with previous work of Kapustin-Saulina and of Kitaev-Kong on boundary conditions and surface defects in abelian Chern-Simons theories and in Turaev-Viro type TFTs, respectively.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Partition functions, mapping class groups and Drinfeld doubles

Higher genus partition functions of two-dimensional conformal field theories have to be invariants under linear actions of mapping class groups. We illustrate recent results [4,6] on the construction of such invariants by concrete expressions obtained for the case of Drinfeld doubles of finite groups. The results for doubles are independent of the characteristic of the underlying field, and the general results do not require any assumptions of semisimplicity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Higher genus mapping class group invariants from factorizable Hopf algebras

Lyubashenko's construction associates representations of mapping class groups Map_{g,n} of Riemann surfaces of any genus g with any number n of holes to a factorizable ribbon category. We consider this construction as applied to the category of bimodules over a finite-dimensional factorizable ribbon Hopf algebra H. For any such Hopf algebra we find an invariant of Map_{g,n} for all values of g and n. More generally, we obtain such invariants for any pair (H,omega), where omega is a ribbon automorphism of H. Our results are motivated by the quest to understand correlation functions of bulk fields in two-dimensional conformal field theories with chiral algebras that are not necessarily semisimple, so-called logarithmic conformal field theories.

math.QA↗

arXiv2012

The Cardy-Cartan modular invariant

Using factorizable Hopf algebras, we construct modular invariant partition functions of charge conjugation, or Cardy, type as characters of coends in categories that share essential features with the ones appearing in logarithmic CFT. The coefficients of such a partition function are given by the Cartan matrix of the theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Modular invariant Frobenius algebras from ribbon Hopf algebra automorphisms

For any finite-dimensional factorizable ribbon Hopf algebra H and any ribbon automorphism omega of H, we establish the existence of the following structure: an H-bimodule F_omega and a bimodule morphism Z_omega from Lyubashenko's Hopf algebra object K for the bimodule category to F_omega. This morphism is invariant under the natural action of the mapping class group of the one-punctured torus on the space of bimodule morphisms from K to F_omega. We further show that the bimodule F_omega can be endowed with a natural structure of a commutative symmetric Frobenius algebra in the monoidal category of H-bimodules, and that it is a special Frobenius algebra iff H is semisimple. The bimodules K and F_omega can both be characterized as coends of suitable bifunctors. The morphism Z_omega is obtained by applying a monodromy operation to the coproduct of F_omega; a similar construction for the product of F_omega exists as well. Our results are motivated by the quest to understand the bulk state space and the bulk partition function in two-dimensional conformal field theories with chiral algebras that are not necessarily semisimple.

math.QA↗

arXiv2012

Modular categories from finite crossed modules

It is known that finite crossed modules provide premodular tensor categories. These categories are in fact modularizable. We construct the modularization and show that it is equivalent to the module category of a finite Drinfeld double.

math.QA↗

arXiv2012

Strictification of weakly equivariant Hopf algebras

A weakly equivariant Hopf algebra is a Hopf algebra A with an action of a finite group G up to inner automorphisms. We show that each weakly equivariant Hopf algebra can be replaced by a Morita equivalent algebra B with a strict action of G and with a coalgebra structure that leads to a tensor equivalent representation category. However, the coproduct of this strictification cannot, in general, be chosen to be unital, so that a strictification of the G-action can only be found on a weak Hopf algebra B.

math.RA↗

arXiv2011

Bicategories in field theories - an invitation

We explain some applications of bicategories in both classical and quantum field theory. This includes a modern perspective on some pioneering work of Max Kreuzer and Bert Schellekens on rational conformal field theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Equivariant Modular Categories via Dijkgraaf-Witten Theory

Based on a weak action of a finite group J on a finite group G, we present a geometric construction of J-equivariant Dijkgraaf-Witten theory as an extended topological field theory. The construction yields an explicitly accessible class of equivariant modular tensor categories. For the action of a group J on a group G, the category is described as the representation category of a J-ribbon algebra that generalizes the Drinfel'd double of the finite group G.

math.QA↗