We consider Frobenius algebras and their bimodules in certain abelian
monoidal categories. In particular we study the Picard group of the category of
bimodules over a Frobenius algebra, i.e. the group of isomorphism classes of
invertible bimodules. The Rosenberg-Zelinsky sequence describes a homomorphism
from the group of algebra automorphisms to the Picard group, which however is
typically not surjective. We investigate under which conditions there exists a
Morita equivalent Frobenius algebra for which the corresponding homomorphism is
surjective.
Defects are a useful tool in the study of quantum field theories. This is
illustrated in the example of two-dimensional conformal field theories. We
describe how defect lines and their junction points appear in the description
of symmetries and order-disorder dualities, as well as in the orbifold
construction and a generalisation thereof that covers exceptional modular
invariants.
We investigate tensor products of matrix factorisations. This is most
naturally done by formulating matrix factorisations in terms of bimodules
instead of modules. If the underlying ring is C[x_1,...,x_N] we show that
bimodule matrix factorisations form a monoidal category.
We give a geometric description of the fusion rules of the affine Lie algebra
su(2)_k at a positive integer level k in terms of the k-th power of the basic
gerbe over the Lie group SU(2). The gerbe can be trivialised over conjugacy
classes corresponding to dominant weights of su(2)_k via a 1-isomorphism. The
fusion-rule coefficients are related to the existence of a 2-isomorphism
between pullbacks of these 1-isomorphisms to a submanifold of SU(2) x SU(2)
determined by the corresponding three conjugacy classes.
We give a geometric description of the fusion rules of the affine Lie algebra
su(2)_k at a positive integer level k in terms of the k-th power of the basic
gerbe over the Lie group SU(2). The gerbe can be trivialised over conjugacy
classes corresponding to dominant weights of su(2)_k via a 1-isomorphism. The
fusion-rule coefficients are related to the existence of a 2-isomorphism
between pullbacks of these 1-isomorphisms to a submanifold of SU(2) x SU(2)
determined by the corresponding three conjugacy classes.