Motivated by the Moore-Segal axioms for an open-closed topological field theory, we consider planar open string topological field theories. We rigorously define a category 2Thick whose objects and morphisms can be thought of as open strings and diffeomorphism classes of planar open string worldsheets. Just as the category of 2-dimensional cobordisms can be described as the free symmetric monoidal category on a commutative Frobenius algebra, 2Thick is shown to be the free monoidal category on a noncommutative Frobenius algebra, hence justifying this choice of data in the Moore-Segal axioms. Our formalism is inherently categorical allowing us to generalize this result. As a stepping stone towards topological membrane theory we define a 2-category of open strings, planar open string worldsheets, and isotopy classes of 3-dimensional membranes defined by diffeomorphisms of the open string worldsheets. This 2-category is shown to be the free (weak monoidal) 2-category on a `categorified Frobenius algebra', meaning that categorified Frobenius algebras determine invariants of these 3-dimensional membranes.
The `spider theorem' for a general Frobenius algebra $A$, classifies all maps $A^{\otimes m}\to A^{\otimes n}$ that are built from the operations and, in a graphical representation, represented by a {\it connected} diagram. Here the algebra can be noncommutative and the Frobenius form can be asymmetric. We view this theorem as reducing any connected diagram to a standard form with $j$ beads $B$, where $j$ is the number of bounded connected components of the original diagram. We study the associated F-dimension Hilbert series $\dim_x=\sum_{j=0}^\infty x^j\dim_j$, where $\dim_j=ε\circ B^j\circ 1…
This paper explains the conjectured algebraic duality between genus zero Gromov-Witten theory and genus zero "Closed String topology". This duality in another perspective is discussed on page 87 of the book "Frobenius manifold, quantum cohomology, and moduli spaces" (by Yuri Manin). This paper also discusses Fulton MacPherson strata.
Given a hypercube of Frobenius extensions between commutative algebras, we provide a diagrammatic description of some natural transformations between compositions of induction and restriction functors, in terms of colored transversely-intersecting planar 1-manifolds. The relations arise in the first and third authors' work on (singular) Soergel bimodules.
We study a special sort of 2-dimensional extended Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs) which we call open-closed TQFTs. These are defined on open-closed cobordisms by which we mean smooth compact oriented 2-manifolds with corners that have a particular global structure in order to model the smooth topology of open and closed string worldsheets. We show that the category of open-closed TQFTs is equivalent to the category of knowledgeable Frobenius algebras. A knowledgeable Frobenius algebra (A,C,i,i^*) consists of a symmetric Frobenius algebra A, a commutative Frobenius algebra C, and an …
We show that string-net models provide a novel geometric method to construct invariants of mapping class group actions. Concretely, we consider string-net models for a modular tensor category ${\mathcal C}$. We show that the datum of a specific commutative symmetric Frobenius algebra in the Drinfeld center $Z(\mathcal{C})$ gives rise to invariant string-nets. The Frobenius algebra has the interpretation of the algebra of bulk fields of the conformal field theory in the Cardy case.
In this paper, we introduce Frobenius von Neumann algebras and study quantum convolution inequalities. In this framework, we unify quantum Young's inequality on quantum symmetries such as subfactors, and fusion bi-algebras studied in quantum Fourier analysis. Moreover, we prove quantum entropic convolution inequalities and characterize the extremizers in the subfactor case. We also prove quantum smooth entropic convolution inequalities. We obtain the positivity of comultiplications of subfactor planar algebras, which is stronger than the quantum Schur product theorem. All these inequalities pr…
We show that a semi-classical quantum field theory comes with a versal family with the property that the corresponding partition function generates all path integrals and satisfies a system of 2nd order differential equations determined by algebras of classical observables. This versal family gives rise to a notion of special coordinates that is analogous to that in string theories. We also show that for a large class of semi-classical theories, their moduli space has the structure of a Frobenius super-manifold.
In this note we show that abstract planar algebras are algebras over the topological operad of moduli spaces of stable maps with Lagrangian boundary conditions, which in the case of the projective line are described in terms of real rational functions. These moduli spaces appear naturally in the formulation of open string theory on the projective line. We also show two geometric ways to obtain planar algebras from real algebraic geometry, one based on string topology and one on Gromov-Witten theory. In particular, through the well known relation between planar algebras and subfactors, these re…
Jones and Penneys showed that a finite depth subfactor planar algebra embeds in the bipartite graph planar algebra of its principal graph, via a Markov towers of algebras approach. We relate several equivalent perspectives on the notion of module over a subfactor planar algebra, and show that a Markov tower is equivalent to a module over the Temperley-Lieb-Jones planar algebra. As a corollary, we obtain a classification of semisimple pivotal C* modules over Temperley-Lieb-Jones in terms of pointed graphs with a Frobenius-Perron vertex weighting. We then generalize the Markov towers of algebras…
Given a differential graded (dg) symmetric Frobenius algebra $A$ we construct an unbounded complex $\mathcal{D}^{*}(A,A)$, called the Tate-Hochschild complex, which arises as a totalization of a double complex having Hochschild chains as negative columns and Hochschild cochains as non-negative columns. We prove that the complex $\mathcal{D}^*(A,A)$ computes the singular Hochschild cohomology of $A$. We construct a cyclic (or Calabi-Yau) $A$-infinity algebra structure, which extends the classical Hochschild cup and cap products, and an $L$-infinity algebra structure extending the classical Gers…
We define a planar para algebra, which arises naturally from combining planar algebras with the idea of $\mathbb{Z}_{N}$ para symmetry in physics. A subfactor planar para algebra is a Hilbert space representation of planar tangles with parafermionic defects, that are invariant under para isotopy. For each $\mathbb{Z}_{N}$, we construct a family of subfactor planar para algebras which play the role of Temperley-Lieb-Jones planar algebras. The first example in this family is the parafermion planar para algebra (PAPPA). Based on this example, we introduce parafermion Pauli matrices, quaternion re…
We associate a monoidal category $\mathcal{H}_B$, defined in terms of planar diagrams, to any graded Frobenius superalgebra $B$. This category acts naturally on modules over the wreath product algebras associated to $B$. To $B$ we also associate a (quantum) lattice Heisenberg algebra $\mathfrak{h}_B$. We show that, provided $B$ is not concentrated in degree zero, the Grothendieck group of $\mathcal{H}_B$ is isomorphic, as an algebra, to $\mathfrak{h}_B$. For specific choices of Frobenius algebra $B$, we recover existing results, including those of Khovanov and Cautis--Licata. We also prove tha…
We study cohomology theories of strongly homotopy algebras, namely $A_\infty, C_\infty$ and $L_\infty$-algebras and establish the Hodge decomposition of Hochschild and cyclic cohomology of $C_\infty$-algebras thus generalising previous work by Loday and Gerstenhaber-Schack. These results are then used to show that a $C_\infty$-algebra with an invariant inner product on its cohomology can be uniquely extended to a symplectic $C_\infty$-algebra (an $\infty$-generalisation of a commutative Frobenius algebra introduced by Kontsevich). As another application, we show that the `string topology' oper…
In this paper, we calculate the norm of the string Fourier transform on subfactor planar algebras and characterize the extremizers of the inequalities for parameters $0<p,q\leq \infty$. Furthermore, we establish Rényi entropic uncertainty principles for subfactor planar algebras.
We use string-net models to accomplish a direct, purely two-dimensional, approach to correlators of two-dimensional rational conformal field theories. We obtain concise geometric expressions for the objects describing bulk and boundary fields in terms of idempotents in the cylinder category of the underlying modular fusion category, comprising more general classes of fields than is standard in the literature. Combining these idempotents with Frobenius graphs on the world sheet yields string nets that form a consistent system of correlators, i.e. a system of invariants under appropriate mapping…
