arXiv subjects

Scott Carnahan

Publications and source records attributed to Scott Carnahan.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Automorphism group schemes of lattice vertex algebras

Given a positive definite even lattice and a commutative ring, there is a standard construction of a lattice vertex algebra over the commutative ring, and it admits a natural grading by non-negative integers. We describe the groups of automorphisms of these graded vertex algebras as affine group schemes, showing in particular that each is an extension of an explicitly described split reductive group of ADE type by the outer automorphism group of the lattice.

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arXiv2023

Why do the symmetries of the monster vertex algebra form a finite simple group?

Together with their 1988 construction of the monster vertex algebra $V^\natural$, Frenkel, Lepowsky, and Meurman showed that the largest sporadic simple group, known as the Fischer-Griess monster, forms the symmetry group of an infinite dimensional algebraic object whose construction was motivated by theoretical physics. However, the fact that the symmetry group is in fact finite and simple ultimately relied on highly non-trivial group-theoretic results used in Griess's work on the monster. We prove some properties of the automorphism group of $V^\natural$, most notably that it is is finite and simple, using recent developments in the theory of vertex operator algebras, but mostly 19th century group theory.

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arXiv2023

Monstrous Moonshine for integral group rings

We propose a conjecture that is a substantial generalization of the genus zero assertions in both Monstrous Moonshine and Modular Moonshine. Our conjecture essentially asserts that if we are given any homomorphism to the complex numbers from a representation ring of a group ring for a subgroup of the Monster, we obtain a Hauptmodul by applying this homomorphism to a self-dual integral form of the Moonshine module. We reduce this conjecture to the genus-zero problem for "quasi-replicable" functions, by applying Borcherds's integral form of the Goddard-Thorn no-ghost theorem together with some analysis of the Laplacian on an integral form of the Monster Lie algebra. We prove our conjecture for cyclic subgroups of the Monster generated by elements in class 4A, and we explicitly determine the multiplicities for a decomposition of the integral Moonshine Module into indecomposable modules of the integral group rings for these groups.

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arXiv2021

51 constructions of the Moonshine module

We show using Borcherds products that for any fixed-point free automorphism of the Leech lattice satisfying a "no massless states" condition, the corresponding cyclic orbifold of the Leech lattice vertex operator algebra is isomorphic to the Monster vertex operator algebra. This induces an "orbifold duality" bijection between algebraic conjugacy classes of fixed-point free automorphisms of the Leech lattice satisfying this condition and algebraic conjugacy classes of non-Fricke elements in the Monster. We use the duality to show that non-Fricke Monstrous Lie algebras are Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras, and prove a refinement of Norton's Generalized Moonshine conjecture: the ambiguous constants relating generalized moonshine Hauptmoduln under conjugation and modular transformations are necessarily roots of unity. We also describe a class of rank 2 Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebras attached to the Conway group.

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arXiv2020

Building vertex algebras from parts

Given a collection of modules of a vertex algebra parametrized by an abelian group, together with one dimensional spaces of composable intertwining operators, we assign a canonical element of the cohomology of an Eilenberg-Mac Lane space. This element describes the obstruction to locality, as the vanishing of this element is equivalent to the existence of a vertex algebra structure with multiplication given by our intertwining operators, and given existence, the structure is unique up to isomorphism. The homological obstruction reduces to an "evenness" problem that naturally vanishes for 2-divisible groups, so simple currents organized into odd order abelian groups always produce vertex algebras. Furthermore, in cases most relevant to conformal field theory (i.e., when we have well-behaved contragradients and tensor products), we obtain our spaces of intertwining operators naturally, and the evenness obstruction reduces to the question of whether the contragradient bilinear form on certain order 2 currents is symmetric or skew-symmetric. We show that if we are given a simple regular VOA and integral-weight modules parametrized by a group of even units in the fusion ring, then the direct sum admits the structure of a simple regular VOA, called the simple current extension, and this structure is unique up to isomorphism.

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arXiv2019

A Self-Dual Integral Form of the Moonshine Module

We construct a self-dual integral form of the moonshine vertex operator algebra, and show that it has symmetries given by the Fischer-Griess monster simple group. The existence of this form resolves the last remaining open assumption in the proof of the modular moonshine conjecture by Borcherds and Ryba. As a corollary, we find that Griess's original 196884-dimensional representation of the monster admits a positive-definite self-dual integral form with monster symmetry.

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arXiv2018

Characterizing Moonshine Functions by Vertex-Operator-Algebraic Conditions

Given a holomorphic $C_2$-cofinite vertex operator algebra $V$ with graded dimension $j-744$, Borcherds's proof of the monstrous moonshine conjecture implies any finite order automorphism of $V$ has graded trace given by a "completely replicable function", and by work of Cummins and Gannon, these functions are principal moduli of genus zero modular groups. The action of the monster simple group on the monster vertex operator algebra produces 171 such functions, known as the monstrous moonshine functions. We show that 154 of the 157 non-monstrous completely replicable functions cannot possibly occur as trace functions on $V$.

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arXiv2018

Monstrous Moonshine over Z?

Monstrous Moonshine was extended in two complementary directions during the 1980s and 1990s, giving rise to Norton's Generalized Moonshine conjecture and Ryba's Modular Moonshine conjecture. Both conjectures have been unconditionally resolved in the last few years, so we describe some speculative conjectures that may extend and unify them.

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arXiv2018

Regularity of fixed-point vertex operator subalgebras

We show that if $T$ is a simple non-negatively graded regular vertex operator algebra with a nonsingular invariant bilinear form and $σ$ is a finite order automorphism of $T$, then the fixed-point vertex operator subalgebra $T^σ$ is also regular. This yields regularity for fixed point vertex operator subalgebras under the action of any finite solvable group. As an application, we obtain an $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$-compatibility between twisted twining characters for commuting finite order automorphisms of holomorphic vertex operator algebras. This resolves one of the principal claims in the Generalized Moonshine conjecture.

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arXiv2017

Fricke Lie algebras and the genus zero property in Moonshine

We give a new, simpler proof that the canonical actions of finite groups on Fricke-type Monstrous Lie algebras yield genus zero functions in Generalized Monstrous Moonshine, using a Borcherds-Kac-Moody Lie algebra decomposition due to Jurisich. We describe a compatibility condition, arising from the no-ghost theorem in bosonic string theory, that yields the genus zero property. We give evidence for and against the conjecture that such a compatibility for symmetries of the Monster Lie algebra gives a characterization of the Monster group.

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arXiv2016

Generalized Moonshine IV: Monstrous Lie algebras

For each element of the Fischer-Griess Monster sporadic simple group, we construct an infinite dimensional Lie algebra equipped with a projective action of the centralizer of that element. Our construction is given by a string-theoretic "add a spacetime torus and quantize" functor applied to an abelian intertwining algebra that is formed from a family of twisted modules of the Monster vertex operator algebra. We prove that for all Fricke elements in the Monster, the characters of centralizers acting on the corresponding irreducible twisted modules are Hauptmoduln. From these results, we resolve Norton's Generalized Moonshine Conjecture.

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arXiv2014

Generalized moonshine II: Borcherds products

The goal of this paper is to construct infinite dimensional Lie algebras using infinite product identities, and to use these Lie algebras to reduce the generalized moonshine conjecture to a pair of hypotheses about group actions on vertex algebras and Lie algebras. The Lie algebras that we construct conjecturally appear in an orbifold conformal field theory with symmetries given by the monster simple group. We introduce vector-valued modular functions attached to families of modular functions of different levels, and we prove infinite product identities for a distinguished class of automorphic functions on a product of two half-planes. We recast this result using the Borcherds-Harvey-Moore singular theta lift, and show that the vector-valued functions attached to completely replicable modular functions with integer coefficients lift to automorphic functions with infinite product expansions at all cusps. For each element of the monster simple group, we construct an infinite dimensional Lie algebra, such that its denominator formula is an infinite product expansion of the automorphic function arising from that element's McKay-Thompson series. These Lie algebras have the unusual property that their simple roots and all root multiplicities are known. We show that under certain hypotheses, characters of groups acting on these Lie algebras form functions on the upper half plane that are either constant or invariant under a genus zero congruence group.

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arXiv2010

Generalized Moonshine I: Genus zero functions

We introduce a notion of Hecke-monicity for functions on certain moduli spaces associated to torsors of finite groups over elliptic curves, and show that it implies strong invariance properties under linear fractional transformations. Specifically, if a weakly Hecke-monic function has algebraic integer coefficients and a pole at infinity, then it is either a holomorphic genus-zero function invariant under a congruence group or of a certain degenerate type. As a special case, we prove the same conclusion for replicable functions of finite order, which were introduced by Conway and Norton in the context of monstrous moonshine. As an application, we introduce a class of Lie algebras with group actions, and show that the characters derived from them are weakly Hecke-monic. When the Lie algebras come from chiral conformal field theory in a certain sense, then the characters form holomorphic genus-zero functions invariant under a congruence group.

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