Hecke Relations, Cosets and the Classification of 2d RCFTs

Abstract

We systemically study the Hecke relations and the $c=8k$ coset relations among 2d rational conformal field theories (RCFTs) with up to seven characters. We propose that the characters of any 2d RCFT -- unitary or non-unitary -- satisfying a holomorphic modular linear differential equation (MLDE) can be realized as either a Hecke image or the coset of a Hecke image with respect to a $c=8k$ theory. Benefited from the recent results on holomorphic modular bootstrap, we check this proposal for all admissible theories with up to five characters. We also find many new interesting Hecke relations. For example, the characters of WZW models $(E_{6})_2,(E_7)_2,(E_{7\frac12})_2$ can be realized as the Hecke images $\mathsf{T}_{13},\mathsf{T}_{19},\mathsf{T}_{19}$ of Virasoro minimal models $M_{\rm sub}(7,6),M(5,4),M_{\rm eff}(13,2)$ respectively. Besides, we find the characters associated to the second largest Fisher group $Fi_{23}$ and the Harada-Norton group $HN$ can be realized as the Hecke images $\mathsf{T}_{23},\mathsf{T}_{19}$ of the product theories $M_{\rm eff}(5,2)\otimes M_{\rm eff}(7,2)$ and $M_{\rm eff}(7,2)^{\otimes 2}$ respectively. Mathematically, our study provides a great many interesting examples of vector-valued modular functions up to rank seven.