Orbifold analysis of broken bulk symmetries

Abstract

In two-dimensional conformal field theory, we analyze conformally invariant boundary conditions which break part of the bulk symmetries. When the subalgebra that is preserved by the boundary conditions is the fixed algebra under the action of a finite group G, orbifold techniques can be used to determine the structure of the space of such boundary conditions. We present explicit results for the case when G is abelian. In particular, we construct a classifying algebra which controls these symmetry breaking boundary conditions in the same way in which the fusion algebra governs the boundary conditions that preserve the full bulk symmetry.