TFT construction of RCFT correlators II: Unoriented world sheets

TL;DR

This paper extends the TFT construction of rational conformal field theory (RCFT) correlators to unoriented world sheets by introducing the concept of reversions, enabling the classification of unoriented amplitudes and defect lines.

Contribution

It introduces the notion of reversions in the TFT framework, allowing the construction of RCFT correlators on unoriented surfaces, and analyzes their classification and properties.

Findings

Reversions are classified and used to construct unoriented correlators.

Different reversions lead to distinct Klein bottle amplitudes.

The Ising model is used as a detailed example.

Abstract

A full rational CFT, consistent on all orientable world sheets, can be constructed from the underlying chiral CFT, i.e. a vertex algebra, its representation category C, and the system of chiral blocks, once we select a symmetric special Frobenius algebra A in the category C [I]. Here we show that the construction of [I] can be extended to unoriented world sheets by specifying one additional datum: a reversion on A - an isomorphism from the opposed algebra of A to A that squares to the twist. A given full CFT on oriented surfaces can admit inequivalent reversions, which give rise to different amplitudes on unoriented surfaces, in particular to different Klein bottle amplitudes. We study the classification of reversions, work out the construction of the annulus, Moebius strip and Klein bottle partition functions, and discuss properties of defect lines on non-orientable world sheets. As an illustration, the Ising model is treated in detail.