Critical RSOS and minimal models: fermionic paths, Virasoro algebra and fields Original Research Article

A framework is presented to extend the finitized characters and recursion methods of (off-critical) corner transfer matrices (CTMs), in a self-consistent fashion, to the calculation of CFT characters and conformal partition functions. More specifically, in this paper we consider sℓ(2) minimal conformal field theories on a cylinder from a lattice perspective. We argue that a general energy-preserving bijection exists between the one-dimensional configuration paths of the AL restricted solid-on-solid (RSOS) lattice models and the eigenstates of their double row transfer matrices and exhibit this bijection for the critical and tricritical Ising models in the vacuum sector. To each allowed one-dimensional configuration path we associate a physical state and a monomial in a finite fermionic algebra. The orthonormal states produced by the action of these monomials on the primary states |h〉 generate finite Virasoro modules with dimensions given by the finitized Virasoro characters χ(N)h(q). These finitized characters are the generating functions for the double row transfer matrix spectra of the critical RSOS models. We also propose a general level-by-level algorithm to build matrix representations of the Virasoro generators and chiral vertex operators (CVOs). The algorithm employs a distinguished basis which we call the L1-basis. Our results extend to ZL−1 parafermion models by duality.