Quantum Affine Algebras and Deformations of the Virasoro and W-algebras

Abstract

We generalize some results concerning affine algebras at the critical level to the corresponding quantum algebras. In particular, we show that the Wakimoto realization provides a homomorphism of Poisson algebras from the center of a quantum affine algebra to a Heisenberg-Poisson algebra. This homomorphism is a q-deformation of the Miura transformation. It is given by the same formulas as the spectra of transfer-matrices of the corresponding quantum integrable models. The image of the center in the Heisenberg-Poisson algebra is a Poisson subalgebra of the latter, which is a q-deformation of the corresponding classical W-algebra. The relations in this Poisson algebra are explicitly computed in the case of sl(n)^.

31 pages, AMSLATEX