Non-invertible Conway defects conjecture for K3 sigma models

Let ΠΛRVtwf\Pi^{\natural}\subset \Lambda\otimes\mathbb{R}\subset V^{f\natural}_{tw} be a four-dimensional subspace, and let TopΠ\mathsf{Top}_{\Pi^{\natural}} be the full subcategory of topological defects defined by the condition in equation (TopPi). Let TopCK3\mathsf{Top}^{K3}_{\mathcal{C}} denote the tensor category of topological defects of a K3 nonlinear sigma model C\mathcal{C} preserving N=(4,4)\mathcal{N}=(4,4) and spectral flow. Non-invertible Conway defects conjecture. There exists a nonlinear sigma model C\mathcal{C} on K3 such that (i) there is an equivalence of tensor categories

F:TopΠTopCK3;F:\mathsf{Top}_{\Pi^{\natural}}\longrightarrow\mathsf{Top}^{K3}_{\mathcal{C}};

(ii) for every LTopΠ\mathcal{L}\in\mathsf{Top}_{\Pi^{\natural}}, the twining genera coincide,

ϕL(Vf,τ,z)=ϕF(L)(C,τ,z);\phi^{\mathcal{L}}(V^{f\natural},\tau,z)=\phi^{F(\mathcal{L})}(\mathcal{C},\tau,z);

and (iii) there is an isometry of Hilbert spaces

φ:Vtwf(1/2)HRR,grK3\varphi:V^{f\natural}_{tw}(1/2)\stackrel{\cong}{\longrightarrow}\mathcal{H}^{K3}_{\mathrm{RR},gr}

intertwining the defect actions:

φL^Vtwf(1/2)=F(L)^HRR,grK3φ.\varphi\circ \widehat{\mathcal{L}}_{\rvert V^{f\natural}_{tw}(1/2)}=\widehat{F(\mathcal{L})}_{\rvert \mathcal{H}^{K3}_{\mathrm{RR},gr}}\circ\varphi.

The conjecture proposes that the Conway super-vertex operator algebra captures not only invertible K3 symmetries but also the corresponding non-invertible topological defects and their action on the Ramond ground-state Hilbert space.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Roberta Angius, Stefano Giaccari, Sarah M. Harrison and Roberto Volpato, “Non-invertible defects from the Conway SCFT to K3 sigma models I: general results”, arXiv:2504.18619 (2025).

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