Twisted Conjugation on Connected Simple Lie Groups and Twining Characters

Abstract: This article discusses the twisted adjoint action $\mathrm{Ad}{g}^{\kappa}:G\rightarrow G$, $x\mapsto gx\kappa(g^{-1})$ given by a Dynkin diagram automorphism $\kappa\in\mathrm{Aut}(G)$, where $G$ is compact, connected, simply connected and simple. The first aim is to recover the classification of $\kappa$-twisted conjugacy classes by elementary means, without invoking the non-connected group $G\rtimes\langle\kappa\rangle$. The second objective is to highlight several properties of the so-called \textit{twining characters} $\tilde{\chi}^{(\kappa)}:G\rightarrow\mathbb{C}$, as defined by Fuchs, Schellekens and Schweigert. These class functions generalize the usual characters, and define $\kappa$-twisted versions $\tilde{R}^{(\kappa)}(G)$ and $\tilde{R}{k}^{(\kappa)}(G)$ ($k\in\mathbb{Z}{>0}$) of the representation and fusion rings associated to $G$. In particular, the latter are shown to be isomorphic to the representation and fusion rings of the \textit{orbit Lie group} $G{(\kappa)}$, a simply connected group obtained from $\kappa$ and the root data of $G$.