ON THE STRUCTURE OF UNITARY CONFORMAL FIELD-THEORY .2. REPRESENTATION THEORETIC APPROACH

Two-dimensional, unitary rational conformal field theory is studied from the point of view of the representation theory of chiral algebras. Chiral algebras are equipped with a family of co-multiplications which serve to define tensor product representations. Chiral vertices arise as Clebsch-Gordan operators from tensor product representations to irreducible subrepresentations of a chiral algebra. The algebra of chiral vertices is studied and shown to give rise to representations of the braid groups determined by Yang-Baxter (braid) matrices. Chiral fusion is analyzed. It is shown that the braid- and fusion matrices determine invariants of knots and links. Connections between the representation theories of chiral algebras and of quantum groups are sketched. Finally, it is shown how the local fields of a conformal field theory can be reconstructed from the chiral vertices of two chiral algebras. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.