Goddard–Thorn Theorem
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Goddard–Thorn Theorem
In mathematics, and in particular in the mathematical background of string theory, the Goddard–Thorn theorem (also called the no-ghost theorem) is a theorem describing properties of a functor that quantizes bosonic strings. It is named after Peter Goddard and Charles Thorn. The name "no-ghost theorem" stems from the fact that in the original statement of the theorem, the natural inner product induced on the output vector space is positive definite. Thus, there were no so-called ghosts ( Pauli–Villars ghosts), or vectors of negative norm. The name "no-ghost theorem" is also a word play on the no-go theorem of quantum mechanics. Formalism There are two naturally isomorphic functors that are typically used to quantize bosonic strings. In both cases, one starts with positive-energy representations of the Virasoro algebra of central charge 26, equipped with Virasoro-invariant bilinear forms, and ends up with vector spaces equipped with bilinear forms. Here, "Virasoro-invar ...
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Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ...
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Richard Borcherds
Richard Ewen Borcherds (; born 29 November 1959) is a British mathematician currently working in quantum field theory. He is known for his work in lattice (group), lattices, group theory, and infinite-dimensional algebra over a field, algebras, for which he was awarded the Fields Medal in 1998. Early life Borcherds was born in Cape Town, South Africa, but the family moved to Birmingham in the United Kingdom when he was six months old. Education Borcherds was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied under John Horton Conway. Career After receiving his doctorate in 1985, Borcherds has held various alternating positions at Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley, serving as Morrey Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Berkeley from 1987 to 1988. He was a Royal Society University Research Fellow. From 1996 he held a Royal Society Research Professorship at Cambridge before returning to Berkeley in 1999 as Profes ...
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String Theory
In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries the gravitational force. Thus, string theory is a theory of quantum gravity. String theory is a broad and varied subject that attempts to address a number of deep questions of fundamental physics. String theory has contributed a number of advances to mathematical physics, which have been applied to a variety of problems in black hole physics, early universe cosmology, nuclear physics, and conde ...
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Theorems In Linear Algebra
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proved, or can be proved. The ''proof'' of a theorem is a logical argument that uses the inference rules of a deductive system to establish that the theorem is a logical consequence of the axioms and previously proved theorems. In the mainstream of mathematics, the axioms and the inference rules are commonly left implicit, and, in this case, they are almost always those of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory with the axiom of choice, or of a less powerful theory, such as Peano arithmetic. A notable exception is Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, which involves the Grothendieck universes whose existence requires the addition of a new axiom to the set theory. Generally, an assertion that is explicitly called a theorem is a proved result that is not an immediate consequence of other known theorems. Moreover, many authors qualify as ''theorems'' only the most important results, and use the terms ''lemma'', ''proposition'' and '' ...
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Advances In Mathematics
''Advances in Mathematics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on pure mathematics. It was established in 1961 by Gian-Carlo Rota. The journal publishes 18 issues each year, in three volumes. At the origin, the journal aimed at publishing articles addressed to a broader "mathematical community", and not only to mathematicians in the author's field. Herbert Busemann writes, in the preface of the first issue, "The need for expository articles addressing either all mathematicians or only those in somewhat related fields has long been felt, but little has been done outside of the USSR. The serial publication ''Advances in Mathematics'' was created in response to this demand." Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in:Abstracting and Indexing
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Leech Lattice
In mathematics, the Leech lattice is an even unimodular lattice Λ24 in 24-dimensional Euclidean space, which is one of the best models for the kissing number problem. It was discovered by . It may also have been discovered (but not published) by Ernst Witt in 1940. Characterization The Leech lattice Λ24 is the unique lattice in 24-dimensional Euclidean space, E24, with the following list of properties: *It is unimodular; i.e., it can be generated by the columns of a certain 24×24 matrix with determinant 1. *It is even; i.e., the square of the length of each vector in Λ24 is an even integer. *The length of every non-zero vector in Λ24 is at least 2. The last condition is equivalent to the condition that unit balls centered at the points of Λ24 do not overlap. Each is tangent to 196,560 neighbors, and this is known to be the largest number of non-overlapping 24-dimensional unit balls that can simultaneously touch a single unit ball. This arrangement of 196,560 un ...
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Monster Simple Group
In the area of abstract algebra known as group theory, the monster group M (also known as the Fischer–Griess monster, or the friendly giant) is the largest sporadic simple group, having order    2463205976112133171923293141475971 = 808,017,424,794,512,875,886,459,904,961,710,757,005,754,368,000,000,000 ≈ 8. The finite simple groups have been completely classified. Every such group belongs to one of 18 countably infinite families, or is one of 26 sporadic groups that do not follow such a systematic pattern. The monster group contains 20 sporadic groups (including itself) as subquotients. Robert Griess, who proved the existence of the monster in 1982, has called those 20 groups the ''happy family'', and the remaining six exceptions ''pariahs''. It is difficult to give a good constructive definition of the monster because of its complexity. Martin Gardner wrote a popular account of the monster group in his June 1980 Mathematical Games column in ''Scientific ...
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Generalized Kac–Moody Algebra
In mathematics, a generalized Kac–Moody algebra is a Lie algebra that is similar to a Kac–Moody algebra, except that it is allowed to have imaginary simple roots. Generalized Kac–Moody algebras are also sometimes called GKM algebras, Borcherds–Kac–Moody algebras, BKM algebras, or Borcherds algebras. The best known example is the monster Lie algebra. Motivation Finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebras have the following properties: * They have a nondegenerate symmetric invariant bilinear form (,). * They have a grading such that the degree zero piece (the Cartan subalgebra) is abelian. * They have a (Cartan) involution ''w''. * (''a'', ''w(a)'') is positive if ''a'' is nonzero. For example, for the algebras of ''n'' by ''n'' matrices of trace zero, the bilinear form is (''a'', ''b'') = Trace(''ab''), the Cartan involution is given by minus the transpose, and the grading can be given by "distance from the diagonal" so that the Cartan subalgebra is the diagonal elements ...
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Monster Lie Algebra
In mathematics, the monster Lie algebra is an infinite-dimensional generalized Kac–Moody algebra acted on by the monster group, which was used to prove the monstrous moonshine conjectures. Structure The monster Lie algebra ''m'' is a ''Z2''-graded Lie algebra. The piece of degree (''m'', ''n'') has dimension ''c''''mn'' if (''m'', ''n'') ≠ (0, 0) and dimension 2 if (''m'', ''n'') = (0, 0). The integers ''cn'' are the coefficients of ''q''''n'' of the ''j''-invariant as elliptic modular function ::j(q) -744 = + 196884 q + 21493760 q^2 + \cdots. The Cartan subalgebra is the 2-dimensional subspace of degree (0, 0), so the monster Lie algebra has rank 2. The monster Lie algebra has just one real simple root, given by the vector (1, −1), and the Weyl group has order 2, and acts by mapping (''m'', ''n'') to (''n'', ''m''). The imaginary simple roots are the vectors (1, ''n'') for ''n'' = 1, 2, 3, ...
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Monster Vertex Algebra
The monster vertex algebra (or moonshine module) is a vertex algebra acted on by the monster group that was constructed by Igor Frenkel, James Lepowsky, and Arne Meurman. R. Borcherds used it to prove the monstrous moonshine conjectures, by applying the Goddard–Thorn theorem of string theory to construct the monster Lie algebra, an infinite-dimensional generalized Kac–Moody algebra acted on by the monster. The Griess algebra is the same as the degree 2 piece of the monster vertex algebra, and the Griess product is one of the vertex algebra products. It can be constructed as conformal field theory describing 24 free bosons compactified on the torus induced by the Leech lattice and orbifold In the mathematical disciplines of topology and geometry, an orbifold (for "orbit-manifold") is a generalization of a manifold. Roughly speaking, an orbifold is a topological space which is locally a finite group quotient of a Euclidean space. D ...ed by the two-element reflection group. ...
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Monstrous Moonshine
In mathematics, monstrous moonshine, or moonshine theory, is the unexpected connection between the monster group ''M'' and modular functions, in particular, the ''j'' function. The term was coined by John Conway and Simon P. Norton in 1979. The monstrous moonshine is now known to be underlain by a vertex operator algebra called the moonshine module (or monster vertex algebra) constructed by Igor Frenkel, James Lepowsky, and Arne Meurman in 1988, which has the monster group as its group of symmetries. This vertex operator algebra is commonly interpreted as a structure underlying a two-dimensional conformal field theory, allowing physics to form a bridge between two mathematical areas. The conjectures made by Conway and Norton were proven by Richard Borcherds for the moonshine module in 1992 using the no-ghost theorem from string theory and the theory of vertex operator algebras and generalized Kac–Moody algebras. History In 1978, John McKay found that the first few ter ...
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Virasoro Algebra
In mathematics, the Virasoro algebra (named after the physicist Miguel Ángel Virasoro) is a complex Lie algebra and the unique central extension of the Witt algebra. It is widely used in two-dimensional conformal field theory and in string theory. Definition The Virasoro algebra is spanned by generators for and the central charge . These generators satisfy ,L_n0 and The factor of 1/12 is merely a matter of convention. For a derivation of the algebra as the unique central extension of the Witt algebra, see derivation of the Virasoro algebra. The Virasoro algebra has a presentation in terms of two generators (e.g. 3 and −2) and six relations. Representation theory Highest weight representations A highest weight representation of the Virasoro algebra is a representation generated by a primary state: a vector v such that : L_ v = 0, \quad L_0 v = hv, where the number is called the conformal dimension or conformal weight of v.P. Di Francesco, P. Mathieu, and D. S ...
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