The properties of conformal blocks, the AGT hypothesis, and knot polynomials

摘要

Various properties of correlators of the two-dimensional conformal field theory are discussed. Specifically, their relation to the partition function of the four-dimensional supersymmetric theory is analyzed. In addition to being of interest in its own right, this relation is of practical importance. For example, it is much easier to calculate the known expressions for the partition function of supersymmetric theory than to calculate directly the expressions for correlators in conformal theory. The examined representation of conformal theory correlators as a matrix model serves the same purpose. The integral form of these correlators allows one to generalize the obtained results for the Virasoro algebra to more complicated cases of the W algebra or the quantum Virasoro algebra. This provides an opportunity to examine more complex configurations in conformal field theory. The three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory is discussed in the second part of the present review. The current interest in this theory stems largely from its relation to the mathematical knot theory (a rather well-developed area of mathematics known since the 17th century). The primary objective of this theory is to develop an algorithm that allows one to distinguish different knots (closed loops in three-dimensional space). The basic way to do this is by constructing the so-called knot invariants.