On 2-dimensional topological field theories

Abstract

In this paper we give a characterization of 2-dimensional topological field theories over a space $X$ as Frobenius bundles with connections over $LX$, the free loop space of $X$. This is a generalization of the folk theorem stating that 2-dimensional topological field theories (over a point) are described by finite-dimensional commutative Frobenius algebras. In another direction, this result extends the description of 1-dimensional topological field theories over a space $X$ as vector bundles with connections over $X$, cf. \cite{DST}.