Equivalence conjecture for the vertex-operator-algebra tensor products

Let VV be a rational vertex operator algebra and let [?][?] be its category of modules, equipped with the monoidal products V\underset{\mathbb{V}}{\otimes} and HL\underset{{\text{\tiny HL}}}{\otimes}. The first is constructed from conformal blocks, while the second is the Huang–Lepowsky tensor product defined using analytic methods and intertwining operators. The map

VM,NSHomC(V0(M,N,S),C)\mathcal{V}^S_{M,N} \overset{\cong}{\longrightarrow} \operatorname{Hom}_\mathbb{C}(\mathbb{V}_0(M,N,S'),\mathbb{C})

is natural in the modules M,N,SM,N,S.

Tensor-product equivalence conjecture. The map above induces an equivalence of monoidal categories

(CV,V)(CV,HL).(\mathcal{C}_V,\underset{\mathbb{V}}{\otimes})\simeq (\mathcal{C}_V,\underset{{\text{\tiny HL}}}{\otimes}).

The two tensor products are already naturally isomorphic and preserve the monoidal unit VV; the remaining issue is compatibility of their associators. The expected equivalence is motivated by the fact that both associators arise from decompositions of a four-punctured sphere into three-punctured spheres, but the statement is presented as future work and is not established here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Chiara Damiolini and Lukas Woike, “Modular functors from conformal blocks of rational vertex operator algebras”, arXiv:2507.05845 (2025).

Additional references

7 papers in this index state this conjecture (2001–2025). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:2404.11561, arXiv:2203.17268, arXiv:1901.02096, arXiv:1311.5217, arXiv:math/0503038, arXiv:math/0101170.

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