Pure mathematicians have only recently begun a rigorous study of topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). Ocneanu, in particular, showed that subfactors yield TQFTs that complement the Turaev-Viro construction. Until now, however, it has been difficult to find an account of this work that is both detailed and accessible. Topological Quant

Pure mathematicians have only recently begun a rigorous study of topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). Ocneanu, in particular, showed that subfactors yield TQFTs that complement the Turaev-Viro construction. Until now, however, it has been difficult to find an account of this work that is both detailed and accessible. Topological Quant

This 2003 book describes a striking connection between topology and algebra, namely that 2D topological quantum field theories are equivalent to commutative Frobenius algebras. The precise formulation of the theorem and its proof is given in terms of monoidal categories, and the main purpose of the book is to develop these concepts from an elementary level, and more generally serve as an introduction to categorical viewpoints in mathematics. Rather than just proving the theorem, it is shown how the result fits into a more general pattern concerning universal monoidal categories for algebraic structures. Throughout, the emphasis is on the interplay between algebra and topology, with graphical interpretation of algebraic operations, and topological structures described algebraically in terms of generators and relations. The book will prove valuable to students or researchers entering this field who will learn a host of modern techniques that will prove useful for future work.

Pure mathematicians have only recently begun a rigorous study of topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). Ocneanu, in particular, showed that subfactors yield TQFTs that complement the Turaev-Viro construction. Until now, however, it has been difficult to find an account of this work that is both detailed and accessible. Topological Quantum Field Theories from Subfactors provides a self-contained, explicit description of Ocneanu's construction It introduces and discusses its various ingredients with the distinct advantage of employing only genuine triangulations. The authors begin with axioms for a TQFT, go through the Turaev-Viro prescription for constructing such a TQFT, and finally work through Ocneanu's method of starting with a finite depth hyperfinite subfactor" and obtaining the data needed to invoke the Turaev-Viro machine. The authors provide a very concise treatment of finite factors of type and their bimodules and include details and calculations for all constructions. They also present, perhaps for the first time in book form, notions such as quantization functors and fusion algebras. Accessible to graduate students and others just beginning to explore this intriguing topic, Topological Quantum Field Theories from Subfactors will also be of interest to researchers in both mathematics and theoretical physics.

Topological quantum computation is a computational paradigm based on topological phases of matter, which are governed by topological quantum field theories. In this approach, information is stored in the lowest energy states of many-anyon systems and processed by braiding non-abelian anyons. The computational answer is accessed by bringing anyons together and observing the result. Besides its theoretical esthetic appeal, the practical merit of the topological approach lies in its error-minimizing hypothetical hardware: topological phases of matter are fault-avoiding or deaf to most local noises, and unitary gates are implemented with exponential accuracy. Experimental realizations are pursued in systems such as fractional quantum Hall liquids and topological insulators. This book expands on the author's CBMS lectures on knots and topological quantum computing and is intended as a primer for mathematically inclined graduate students. With an emphasis on introducing basic notions and current research, this book gives the first coherent account of the field, covering a wide range of topics: Temperley-Lieb-Jones theory, the quantum circuit model, ribbon fusion category theory, topological quantum field theory, anyon theory, additive approximation of the Jones polynomial, anyonic quantum computing models, and mathematical models of topological phases of matter.

These notes deal with an area that lies at the crossroads of mathematics and physics and rest primarily on the pioneering work of Vaughan Jones and Edward Witten, who related polynomial invariants of knots to a topological quantum field theory in 2+1 dimensions.

This book presents the (to date) most general approach to combinatorial constructions of topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) in three dimensions. The authors describe extended TQFTs as double functors between two naturally defined double categories: one of topological nature, made of 3-manifolds with corners, the other of algebraic nature, made of linear categories, functors, vector spaces and maps. Atiyah's conventional notion of TQFTs as well as the notion of modular functor from axiomatic conformal field theory are unified in this concept. A large class of such extended modular catergory is constructed, assigning a double functor to every abelian modular category, which does not have to be semisimple.