Fermionic CFTs and classifying algebras

Abstract

We study fermionic conformal field theories on surfaces with spin structure in the presence of boundaries, defects, and interfaces. We obtain the relevant crossing relations, taking particular care with parity signs and signs arising from the change of spin structure in different limits. We define fermionic classifying algebras for boundaries, defects, and interfaces, which allow one to read off the elementary boundary conditions, etc. As examples, we define fermionic extensions of Virasoro minimal models and give explicit solutions for the spectrum and bulk structure constants. We show how the $A$- and $D$-type fermionic Virasoro minimal models are related by a parity-shift operation which we define in general. We study the boundaries, defects, and interfaces in several examples, in particular in the fermionic Ising model, i.e. the free fermion, in the fermionic tri-critical Ising model, i.e. the first unitary $N=1$ superconformal minimal model, and in the supersymmetric Lee-Yang model, of which there are two distinct versions that are related by parity-shift.