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P. Bouwknegt

Publications and source records attributed to P. Bouwknegt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2014

Spherical T-Duality

We introduce spherical T-duality, which relates pairs of the form $(P,H)$ consisting of a principal $SU(2)$-bundle $P\rightarrow M$ and a 7-cocycle $H$ on $P$. Intuitively spherical T-duality exchanges $H$ with the second Chern class $c_2(P)$. Unless $dim(M)\leq 4$, not all pairs admit spherical T-duals and the spherical T-duals are not always unique. Nonetheless, we prove that all spherical T-dualities induce a degree-shifting isomorphism on the 7-twisted cohomologies of the bundles and, when $dim(M)\leq 7$, also their integral twisted cohomologies and, when $dim(M)\leq 4$, even their 7-twisted K-theories. While spherical T-duality does not appear to relate equivalent string theories, it does provide an identification between conserved charges in certain distinct IIB supergravity and string compactifications.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

C*-algebras in tensor categories

We define and systematically study nonassociative C*-algebras as C*-algebras internal to a topological tensor category. We also offer a concrete approach to these C*-algebras, as G-invariant, norm closed *-subalgebras of bounded operators on a G-Hilbert space, with deformed composition product. Our central results are those of stabilization and Takai duality for (twisted) crossed products in this context.

math.QA↗
arXiv2006

Flux Compactifications on Projective Spaces and The S-Duality Puzzle

We derive a formula for D3-brane charge on a compact spacetime, which includes torsion corrections to the tadpole cancellation condition. We use this to classify D-branes and RR fluxes in type II string theory on RP^3xRP^{2k+1}xS^{6-2k} with torsion H-flux and to demonstrate the conjectured T-duality to S^3xS^{2k+1}xS^{6-2k} with no flux. When k=1, H\neq 0 and so the K-theory that classifies fluxes is twisted. When k=2 the square of the H-flux yields an S-dual Freed-Witten anomaly which is canceled by a D3-brane insertion that ruins the K-theory classification. When k=3 the cube of H is nontrivial and so the D3 insertion may itself be inconsistent and the compactification unphysical. Along the way we provide a physical interpretation for the AHSS in terms of boundaries of branes within branes.

hep-th↗
arXiv2003

T-Duality: Topology Change from H-flux

T-duality acts on circle bundles by exchanging the first Chern class with the fiberwise integral of the H-flux, as we motivate using E_8 and also using S-duality. We present known and new examples including NS5-branes, nilmanifolds, Lens spaces, both circle bundles over RP^n, and the AdS^5 x S^5 to AdS^5 x CP^2 x S^1 with background H-flux of Duff, Lu and Pope. When T-duality leads to M-theory on a non-spin manifold the gravitino partition function continues to exist due to the background flux, however the known quantization condition for G_4 fails. In a more general context, we use correspondence spaces to implement isomorphisms on the twisted K-theories and twisted cohomology theories and to study the corresponding Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch theorem. Interestingly, in the case of decomposable twists, both twisted theories admit fusion products and so are naturally rings.

hep-th↗
arXiv2003

K-matrices for 2D conformal field theories

In this paper we examine fermionic type characters (Universal Chiral Partition Functions) for general 2D conformal field theories with a bilinear form given by a matrix of the form K \oplus K^{-1}. We provide various techniques for determining these K-matrices, and apply these to a variety of examples including (higher level) WZW and coset conformal field theories. Applications of our results to fractional quantum Hall systems and (level restricted) Kostka polynomials are discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2001

Twisted K-theory and K-theory of bundle gerbes

In this note we introduce the notion of bundle gerbe K-theory and investigate the relation to twisted K-theory. We provide some examples. Possible applications of bundle gerbe K-theory to the classification of D-brane charges in non-trivial backgrounds are discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2000

Non-abelian quantum Hall states - exclusion statistics, K-matrices and duality

We study excitations in edge theories for non-abelian quantum Hall states, focussing on the spin polarized states proposed by Read and Rezayi and on the spin singlet states proposed by two of the authors. By studying the exclusion statistics properties of edge-electrons and edge-quasiholes, we arrive at a novel K-matrix structure. Interestingly, the duality between the electron and quasihole sectors links the pseudoparticles that are characteristic for non-abelian statistics with composite particles that are associated to the `pairing physics' of the non-abelian quantum Hall states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2000

D-branes, B-fields and twisted K-theory

In this note we propose that D-brane charges, in the presence of a topologically non-trivial B-field, are classified by the K-theory of an infinite dimensional C^*-algebra. In the case of B-fields whose curvature is pure torsion our description is shown to coincide with that of Witten.

hep-th↗
arXiv1999

K-matrices for non-abelian quantum Hall states

Two fundamental aspects of so-called non-abelian quantum Hall states (the q-pfaffian states and more general) are a (generalized) pairing of the participating electrons and the non-abelian statistics of the quasi-hole excitations. In this paper, we show that these two aspects are linked by a duality relation, which can be made manifest by considering the K-matrices that describe the exclusion statistics of the fundamental excitations in these systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1999

Exclusion Statistics in Conformal Field Theory -- generalized fermions and spinons for level-1 WZW theories

We systematically study the exclusion statistics for quasi-particles for Conformal Field Theory spectra by employing a method based on recursion relations for truncated spectra. Our examples include generalized fermions in c<1 unitary minimal models, Z_k parafermions, and spinons for the su(n)_1, so(n)_1 and sp(2n)_1 Wess-Zumino-Witten models. For some of the latter examples we present explicit expressions for finitized affine characters and for the N-spinon decomposition of affine characters.

hep-th↗
arXiv1998

Non-abelian Electrons

We analyze critical and massive SO(5) superspin regimes for correlated electrons on a two-chain ladder. We identify fundamental low energy excitations, which carry the quantum numbers of a free electron, and can be probed in (inverse) photo-emission experiments. These excitations do not obey the usual Pauli Principle, but are governed by specific forms of so-called non-abelian exclusion statistics.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv1998

On deformed W-algebras and quantum affine algebras

We discuss some aspects of the deformed W-algebras W_{q,t}[g]. In particular, we derive an explicit formula for the Kac determinant, and discuss the center when t^2 is a primitive k-th root of unity. The relation of the structure of W_{q,t}[g] to the representation ring of the quantum affine algebra U_q(\hat g), as discovered recently by Frenkel and Reshetikhin, is further elucidated in some examples.

math.QA↗
arXiv1997

The deformed Virasoro algebra at roots of unity

We discuss some aspects of the representation theory of the deformed Virasoro algebra $\virpq$. In particular, we give a proof of the formula for the Kac determinant and then determine the center of $\virpq$ for $q$ a primitive N-th root of unity. We derive explicit expressions for the generators of the center in the limit $t=qp^{-1}\to \infty$ and elucidate the connection to the Hall-Littlewood symmetric functions. Furthermore, we argue that for $q=\sqrtN{1}$ the algebra describes `Gentile statistics' of order $N-1$, i.e., a situation in which at most $N-1$ particles can occupy the same state.

q-alg↗
arXiv1996

The SU(n)_1 WZW Models: Spinon Decomposition and Yangian Structure

We present a `spinon formulation' of the $SU(n)_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten models. Central to this approach are a set of massless quasi-particles, called `spinons', which transform in the representation ${\bf \bar{n}}$ of $su(n)$ and carry fractional statistics of angle $θ= π/n$. Multi-spinon states are grouped into irreducible representations of the yangian $Y(sl_n)$. We give explicit results for the $su(n)$ content of these yangian representations and present $N$-spinon cuts of the WZW character formulas. As a by-product, we obtain closed expressions for characters of the $su(n)$ Haldane-Shastry spin chains.

hep-th↗
arXiv1995

On the W-gravity spectrum and its G-structure

We present results for the BRST cohomology of $\cW[\bfg]$ minimal models coupled to $\cW[\bfg]$ gravity, as well as scalar fields coupled to $\cW[\bfg]$ gravity. In the latter case we explore an intricate relation to the (twisted) $\bfg$ cohomology of a product of two twisted Fock modules.

hep-th↗
arXiv1994

Spinon Bases, Yangian Symmetry and Fermionic Representations of Virasoro Characters in Conformal Field Theory

We study the description of the $SU(2)$, level $k=1$, Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory in terms of the modes of the spin-1/2 affine primary field $ϕ^α$. These are shown to satisfy generalized `canonical commutation relations', which we use to construct a basis of Hilbert space in terms of representations of the Yangian $Y(sl_2)$. Using this description, we explicitly derive so-called `fermionic representations' of the Virasoro characters, which were first conjectured by Kedem et al.~\cite{kedem}. We point out that similar results are expected for a wide class of rational conformal field theories.

hep-th↗
arXiv1993

On the BRST structure of W_3 gravity coupled to c=2 matter

We present some explicit results on the structure of singular vectors in $c=2$ Verma modules of the $\cW_3$ algebra. Using the embedding patterns of those vectors we construct resolutions for the $c=2$ irreducible modules, and thus are able to compute some of the BRST cohomology of $\cW_3$ gravity coupled to $c=2$ matter. In particular, we determine the states in the ground ring of the theory. (To appear in the proceedings of the AMS Special Session on "Geometry and Physics", USC, Los Angeles, November 5-6, 1992)

hep-th↗