Irrational conformal field theory
Encyclopedia
In theoretical physics
, irrational conformal field theory is a conformal field theory
that is not a rational conformal field theory
. It means that the conformal weights of its primary field
s and the central charge
are irrational number
s which makes the theory harder to solve and understand.
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
, irrational conformal field theory is a conformal field theory
Conformal field theory
A conformal field theory is a quantum field theory that is invariant under conformal transformations...
that is not a rational conformal field theory
Rational conformal field theory
In theoretical physics, rational conformal field theory is a special type of conformal field theory with a finite number of conformal primaries. In these theories, all dimensions are rational numbers that can be computed from the consistency conditions of conformal field theory. The most famous...
. It means that the conformal weights of its primary field
Primary field
In theoretical physics, a primary field is a field operator in quantum field theory - especially conformal field theory or a theory with supersymmetry - that is invariant under the positive frequency modes of the Virasoro algebra - or under one half of the supersymmetries and superconformal...
s and the central charge
Central charge
In theoretical physics, a central charge is an operator Z that commutes with all the other symmetry operators. The adjective "central" refers to the center of the symmetry group -- the subgroup of elements that commute with all other elements of the original group—or to the center of a Lie algebra...
are irrational number
Irrational number
In mathematics, an irrational number is any real number that cannot be expressed as a ratio a/b, where a and b are integers, with b non-zero, and is therefore not a rational number....
s which makes the theory harder to solve and understand.