In this paper we study conjugacy classes for pivotal fusion categories. In particular we prove a Burnside type formula for the structure constants concerning the product of two conjugacy class sums of a such fusion category. For a braided weakly integral fusion category $\mathcal C$ we show that these structure constants multiplied by $\mathrm{dim}(\mathcal C)$ are non-negative integers, extending some results obtained by Zhou and Zhu (see \cite{zz}) in the settings of semisimple quasitriangular Hopf algebras.
Arbitrarily many pairwise inequivalent modular categories can share the same modular data. We exhibit a family of examples that are module categories over twisted Drinfeld doubles of finite groups, and thus in particular integral modular categories.
We study properties of relative modular categories and derive sufficient conditions for their existence. In particular, we derive sufficient conditions for relative pre-modular categories to be non-degenerate and relative modular, and for the quotient of categories taking a particular form by their ideal of negligible modules to be generically semi-simple.
We classify integral modular categories of dimension pq^4 and p^2q^2 where p and q are distinct primes. We show that such categories are always group-theoretical except for categories of dimension 4q^2. In these cases there are well-known examples of non-group-theoretical categories, coming from centers of Tambara-Yamagami categories and quantum groups. We show that a non-group-theoretical integral modular category of dimension 4q^2 is equivalent to either one of these well-known examples or is of dimension 36 and is twist-equivalent to fusion categories arising from a certain quantum group.
Modular categories are important algebraic structures in a variety of subjects in mathematics and physics. We provide an explicit, motivated and elementary definition of a modular category over a field of characteristic 0 as an equivalence class of solutions to a set of polynomial equations. We conclude that within each class of solutions, there is one which consists entirely of algebraic numbers. These algebraic solutions make it possible to discuss defining algebraic number fields of modular categories and their Galois twists. One motivation for such a definition is an arithmetic theory of m…
We pursue a classification of low-rank super-modular categories parallel to that of modular categories. We classify all super-modular categories up to rank=$6$, and spin modular categories up to rank=$11$. In particular, we show that, up to fusion rules, there is exactly one non-split super-modular category of rank $2,4$ and $6$, namely $PSU(2)_{4k+2}$ for $k=0,1$ and $2$. This classification is facilitated by adapting and extending well-known constraints from modular categories to super-modular categories, such as Verlinde and Frobenius-Schur indicator formulae.
We characterize a natural class of modular categories of prime power Frobenius-Perron dimension as representation categories of twisted doubles of finite p-groups. We also show that a nilpotent braided fusion category C admits an analogue of the Sylow decomposition. If the simple objects of C have integral Frobenius-Perron dimensions then C is group-theoretical. As a consequence, we obtain that semisimple quasi-Hopf algebras of prime power dimension are group-theoretical. Our arguments are based on a reconstruction of twisted group doubles from Lagrangian subcategories of modular categories (t…
Let G be a unipotent algebraic group over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p > 0 and let l be a prime different from p. Let e be a minimal idempotent in D_G(G), the braided monoidal category of G-equivariant (under conjugation action) \bar{Q_l}-complexes on G. We can associate to G and e a modular category M_{G,e}. In this article, we prove that the modular categories that arise in this way from unipotent groups are precisely those in the class C_p^{\pm}.
We establish a set of general results to study how the Galois action on modular tensor categories interacts with fusion subcategories. This includes a characterization of fusion subcategories of modular tensor categories which are closed under the Galois action, and a classifcation of modular tensor categories which factor as a product of pointed and transitive categories in terms of pseudoinvertible objects. As an application, we classify modular tensor categories with two Galois orbits of simple objects and a nontrivial grading group.
We obtain a classification of metaplectic modular categories: every metaplectic modular category is a gauging of the particle-hole symmetry of a cyclic modular category. Our classification suggests a conjecture that every weakly-integral modular category can be obtained by gauging a symmetry of a pointed modular category.
The feasibility of a classification-by-rank program for modular categories follows from the Rank-Finiteness Theorem. We develop arithmetic, representation theoretic and algebraic methods for classifying modular categories by rank. As an application, we determine all possible fusion rules for all rank=$5$ modular categories and describe the corresponding monoidal equivalence classes.
We develop categorical and number theoretical tools for the classification of super-modular categories. We apply these tools to obtain a partial classification of super-modular categories of rank $8$. In particular we find three distinct families of prime categories in rank $8$ in contrast to the lower rank cases for which there is only one such family.
We develop a symbolic computational approach to classifying low-rank modular categories. We use this technique to classify pseudo-unitary modular categories of rank at most 5 that are non-self-dual, i.e. those for which some object is not isomorphic to its dual object.
In this paper, we study modular categories whose Galois group actions on their simple objects are transitive. We show that such modular categories admit unique factorization into prime transitive factors. The representations of $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$ associated with transitive modular categories are proven to be minimal and irreducible. Together with the Verlinde formula, we characterize prime transitive modular categories as the Galois conjugates of the adjoint subcategory of the quantum group modular category $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{sl}_2,p-2)$ for some prime $p > 3$. As a consequence, we complet…
In this note we give an account of recent progress on the construction of holomorphic vertex algebras as cyclic orbifolds as well as related topics in lattices and modular categories. We present a novel computation of the Schur indicator of a lattice involution orbifold using finite Heisenberg groups and discriminant forms.
We first prove an analogue of Lagrange theorem for global dimensions of fusion categories, then we give a complete classifications of pre-modular fusion categories of integer global dimensions less than or equal to $10$.
We construct four series of modular categories from the two-variable Kauffman polynomial, without use of the representation theory of quantum groups at roots of unity. The specializations of this polynomial corresponding to quantum groups of types B, C and D produce series of pre-modular categories. One of them turns out to be modular and three others satisfy Bruguières' modularization criterion. For these four series we compute the Verlinde formulas, and discuss spin and cohomological refinements.
In this paper we follow the constructions of Turaev's book [Tu] closely, but with small modifications, to construct of a modular functor, in the sense of Kevin Walker, from any modular tensor category. We further show that this modular functor has duality and if the modular tensor category category is Hermitian or unitary, then the resulting modular functor is also Hermitian or unitary respectively.
We show that once-extended anomalous 3-dimensional topological quantum field theories valued in the 2-category of k-linear categories are in canonical bijection with modular tensor categories equipped with a square root of the global dimension in each factor.
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.
We study spin and super-modular categories systematically as inspired by fermionic topological phases of matter, which are always fermion parity enriched and modelled by spin TQFTs at low energy. We formulate a $16$-fold way conjecture for the minimal modular extensions of super-modular categories to spin modular categories, which is a categorical formulation of gauging the fermion parity. We investigate general properties of super-modular categories such as fermions in twisted Drinfeld doubles, Verlinde formulas for naive quotients, and explicit extensions of $PSU(2)_{4m+2}$ with an eye towar…
Pursuing a generalization of group symmetries of modular categories to category symmetries in topological phases of matter, we study linear Hopf monads. The main goal is a generalization of extension and gauging group symmetries to category symmetries of modular categories, which include also categorical Hopf algebras as special cases. As an application, we propose an analogue of the classification of finite simple groups to modular categories, where we define simple modular categories as the prime ones without any nontrivial normal algebras.
We give a complete classification of modular categories of dimension $p^3m$ where $p$ is prime and $m$ is a square-free integer. When $p$ is odd, all such categories are pointed. For $p=2$ one encounters modular categories with the same fusion ring as orthogonal quantum groups at certain roots of unity, namely $SO(2m)_2$. As an immediate step we classify a more general class of so-called even metaplectic modular categories with the same fusion rules as $SO(2N)_2$ with $N$ odd.
We study novel invariants of modular categories that are beyond the modular data, with an eye towards a simple set of complete invariants for modular categories. Our focus is on the $W$-matrix--the quantum invariant of a colored framed Whitehead link from the associated TQFT of a modular category. We prove that the $W$-matrix and the set of punctured $S$-matrices are strictly beyond the modular data $(S,T)$. Whether or not the triple $(S,T,W)$ constitutes a complete invariant of modular categories remains an open question.
A super-modular category is a unitary pre-modular category with Müger center equivalent to the symmetric unitary category of super-vector spaces. Super-modular categories are important alternatives to modular categories as any unitary pre-modular category is the equivariantization of a either a modular or super-modular category. Physically, super-modular categories describe universal properties of quasiparticles in fermionic topological phases of matter. In general one does not have a representation of the modular group $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ associated to a super-modular category, but it…
A geometric construction of Z_2-graded orthogonal modular categories is given. Their 0-graded parts coincide with categories previously obtained by Blanchet and the author from the category of tangles modulo the Kauffman skein relations. Quantum dimensions and twist coefficients for 1-graded simple objects (spinors) are calculated. We show that our even orthogonal modular categories admit cohomological refinements and the odd orthogonal ones lead to spin refinements. The relation with the quantum group approach is discussed.
We classify all modular categories of dimension $4m$, where $m$ is an odd square-free integer, and all ranks $6$ and $7$ weakly integral modular categories. This completes the classification of weakly integral modular categories through rank $7$. Our results imply that all integral modular categories of rank at most $7$ are pointed (that is, every simple object has dimension $1$). All strictly weakly integral (weakly integral but non-integral) modular categories of ranks $6$ and $7$ have dimension $4m$, with $m$ an odd square free integer, so their classification is an application of our main …
Integral modular categories of Frobenius-Perron dimension $pq^n$, where $p$ and $q$ are primes, are considered. It is already known that such categories are group-theoretical in the cases of $0 \leq n \leq 4$. In the general case we determine that these categories are either group theoretical or contain a Tannakian subcategory of dimension $q^i$ for $i>1$. We then show that all integral modular categories $\mathcal{C}$ with $\mathrm{FPdim}(\mathcal{C})=pq^5$ are group-theoretical, and, if in addition $p<q$, all with $\mathrm{FPdim}(\mathcal{C})=pq^6$ or $pq^7$ are group-theoretical. In the pro…
In this short note we investigate the process of constructing auto-equivalences of modular tensor categories using invertible objects. We derive conditions on the invertible object for the resulting auto-equivalence to be either monoidal, braided, or pivotal. We also discuss the composition of these auto-equivalences constructed from invertible objects. To demonstrate the practicality of this construction, we construct auto-equivalences of several real-world examples of modular tensor categories.
It is a well-known result of Etingof, Nikshych and Ostrik that there are finitely many inequivalent integral modular categories of any fixed rank $n$. This follows from a double-exponential bound on the maximal denominator in an Egyptian fraction representation of 1. A naïve computer search approach to the classification of rank $n$ integral modular categories using this bound quickly overwhelms the computer's memory (for $n\geq 7$). We use a modified strategy: find general conditions on modular categories that imply integrality and study the classification problem in these limited settings. T…
We classify indecomposable commutative separable (special Frobenius) algebras and their local modules in (untwisted) group-theoretical modular categories. This gives a description of modular invariants for group-theoretical modular data. As a bi-product we provide an answer to the question when (and in how many ways) two group-theoretical modular categories are equivalent as ribbon categories.
Modular Tensor Categories (MTC's) arise in the study of certain condensed matter systems. There is an ongoing program to classify MTC's of low rank, up to modular data. We present an overview of the methods to classify modular tensor categories of low rank, applied to the specific case of a rank 6 category with Galois group $\langle(012)(345)\rangle$, and show that certain symmetries in this case imply nonunitarizable (hence, nonphysical) MTC's. We show that all the rank 6 MTC's with this Galois group have modular data conjugate to either the product of the semion category with $(A_1, 5)_{\fra…
We present several infinite families of potential modular data motivated by examples of Drinfeld centers of quadratic categories. In each case, the input is a pair of involutive metric groups with Gauss sums differing by a sign, along with some conditions on the fixed points of the involutions and the relative sizes of the groups. From this input we construct $S$ and $T$ matrices which satisfy the modular relations and whose Verlinde coefficients are non-negative integers. We also check certain restrictions coming from Frobenius-Schur indicators. These families generalize Evans and Gannon's co…
We show that every essentially small finitely semisimple k-linear additive spherical category in which k=End(1) is a field, is equivalent to its dual over the long canonical forgetful functor. This includes the special case of modular categories. In order to prove this result, we show that the universal coend of the spherical category with respect to the long forgetful functor is self-dual as a Weak Hopf Algebra.
The representation theory of a conformal net is a unitary modular tensor category. It is captured by the bimodule category of the Jones-Wassermann subfactor. In this paper, we construct multi-interval Jones-Wassermann subfactors for unitary modular tensor categories. We prove that these subfactors are self-dual. It generalizes and categorifies the self-duality of finite abelian groups and we call it modular self-duality.
A braided fusion category is said to have Property $\textbf{F}$ if the associated braid group representations factor over a finite group. We verify integral metaplectic modular categories have property $\textbf{F}$ by showing these categories are group theoretical. For the special case of integral categories $\mathcal{C}$ with the fusion rules of $SO(8)_2$ we determine the finite group $G$ for which $Rep(D^ωG)$ is braided equivalent to $\mathcal{Z}(\mathcal{C})$. In addition, we determine the associated classical link invariant, an evaluation of the 2-variable Kauffman polynomial at a point.
In this paper, we continue with the ideas presented in [GVR17]. In this opportunity, we apply the fermionic action concept to classify in cohomology terms the minimal modular extensions of a super-Tannakian category. For this goal, we study some properties of equivariantization and de-equivariantization processes and cohomology data for the fermionic case.
The two pillars of rational conformal field theory and rational vertex operator algebras are modularity of characters on the one hand and its interpretation of modules as objects in a modular tensor category on the other one. Overarching these pillars is the Verlinde formula. In this paper we consider the more general class of logarithmic conformal field theories and $C_2$-cofinite vertex operator algebras. We suggest that their modular pillar are trace functions with insertions corresponding to intertwiners of the projective cover of the vacuum, and that the categorical pillar are finite tens…
A modular category is a braided category with some additional algebraic features. The interest of this concept is that it provides a Topological Quantum Field Theory in dimension 3. The Verlinde formulas associated with a modular category are the dimensions of the TQFT modules. We compute this formulas and discuss reductions and refinements for modular categories related with SU(N).Our main result is a splitting of the Verlinde formula, corresponding to a brick decomposition of the TQFT modules whose summands are indexed by spin structures modulo an even integer.We introduce the notion of a sp…
We compute the monoidal and braided auto-equivalences of the modular tensor categories $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{sl}_{r+1},k)$, $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{so}_{2r+1},k)$, $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{sp}_{2r},k)$, and $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{g}_{2},k)$. Along with the expected simple current auto-equivalences, we show the existence of the charge conjugation auto-equivalence of $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{sl}_{r+1},k)$, and exceptional auto-equivalences of $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{so}_{2r+1},2)$, $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{sp}_{2r},r)$, $\mathcal{C}(\mathfrak{g}_{2},4)$. We end the paper with a section discussing poten…
We develop abstract nonsense for module categories over monoidal categories (this is a straightforward categorification of modules over rings). As applications we show that any semisimple monoidal category with finitely many simple objects is equivalent to the category of representations of a weak Hopf algebra (theorem of T. Hayashi) and classify module categories over the fusion category of $\hat{sl}(2)$ at a positive integer level where we meet once again ADE classification pattern.
Let $C$ be a modular category of Frobenius-Perron dimension $dq^n$, where $q$ is a prime number and $d$ is a square-free integer. We show that if $q>2$ then $C$ is integral and nilpotent. In particular, $C$ is group-theoretical. In the general case, we describe the structure of $C$ in terms of equivariantizations of group-crossed braided fusion categories.
Modular tensor categories are generalizations of the representation categories of quantum groups at roots of unity axiomatizing the properties necessary to produce 3-dimensional TQFTs. Although other constructions have since been found, quantum groups remain the most prolific source. Recently proposed applications to quantum computing have provided an impetus to understand and describe these examples as explicitly as possible, especially those that are "physically feasible." We survey the current status of the problem of producing unitary modular tensor categories from quantum groups, emphasiz…
This is an expository article invited for the ``Commentary'' section of PNAS in connection with Y.-Z. Huang's article, ``Vertex operator algebras, the Verlinde conjecture, and modular tensor categories,'' appearing in the same issue of PNAS. Huang's solution of the mathematical problem of constructing modular tensor categories from the representation theory of vertex operator algebras is very briefly discussed, along with background material. The hypotheses of the theorems entering into the solution are very general, natural and purely algebraic, and have been verified in a wide range of famil…
In this paper we study modular tensor categories (braided rigid balanced tensor categories with additional finiteness and non-degeneracy conditions), in particular, representations of quantum groups at roots of unity. We show that the action of modular group on certain spaces of morphisms in MTC is unitary with respect to the natural inner product on these spaces. In a special case of category based on representations of the quantum group U_q sl_n at roots of unity we show that in some of these spaces of morphisms (for U_q sl_2, in all of them) the action of modular group can be written in ter…
