AGT, N-Burge partitions and W_N minimal models

Abstract

Let ${\mathcal B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \, {\mathcal H}}_{N, n}$ be a conformal block, with $n$ consecutive channels $\chi_{\i}$, $\i = 1, \cdots, n$, in the conformal field theory $\mathcal{M}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}}_N \! \times \! \mathcal{M}^{\mathcal{H}}$, where $\mathcal{M}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}}_N$ is a $\mathcal{W}_N$ minimal model, generated by chiral fields of spin $1, \cdots, N$, and labeled by two co-prime integers $p$ and $p^{\prime}$, $1 < p < p^{\prime}$, while $\mathcal{M}^{\mathcal{H}}$ is a free boson conformal field theory. $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$ is the expectation value of vertex operators between an initial and a final state. Each vertex operator is labelled by a charge vector that lives in the weight lattice of the Lie algebra $A_{N-1}$, spanned by weight vectors $\omega_1, \cdots, \omega_{N-1}$. We restrict our attention to conformal blocks with vertex operators whose charge vectors point along $\omega_1$. The charge vectors that label the initial and final states can point in any direction. Following the $\mathcal{W}_N$ AGT correspondence, and using Nekrasov's instanton partition functions without modification, to compute $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$, leads to ill-defined expressions. We show that restricting the states that flow in the channels $\chi_{\i}$, $\i = 1, \cdots, n$, to states labeled by $N$ partitions that satisfy conditions that we call $N$-Burge partitions, leads to well-defined expressions that we identify with $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$. We check our identification by showing that a specific non-trivial conformal block that we compute, using the $N$-Burge conditions satisfies the expected differential equation.