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Unoriented WZW Models and Holonomy of Bundle Gerbes

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Abstract

The Wess-Zumino term in two-dimensional conformal field theory is best understood as a surface holonomy of a bundle gerbe. We define additional structure for a bundle gerbe that allows to extend the notion of surface holonomy to unoriented surfaces. This provides a candidate for the Wess-Zumino term for WZW models on unoriented surfaces. Our ansatz reproduces some results known from the algebraic approach to WZW models.

manche meinen

lechts und rinks

kann man nicht velwechsern

werch ein illtum

Ernst Jandl [Jan95]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Mathematik, Schwerpunkt Algebra und Zahlentheorie, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstraße 55, D–20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Urs Schreiber, Christoph Schweigert & Konrad Waldorf

Authors
  1. Urs Schreiber
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  2. Christoph Schweigert
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  3. Konrad Waldorf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christoph Schweigert.

Additional information

Communicated by M.R. Douglas

K.W. is supported with scholarships by the German Israeli Foundation (GIF) and by the Rudolf und Erika Koch–Stiftung.

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Schreiber, U., Schweigert, C. & Waldorf, K. Unoriented WZW Models and Holonomy of Bundle Gerbes. Commun. Math. Phys. 274, 31–64 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-007-0271-x

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