A Cyclic Orbifold Theory for Holomorphic Vertex Operator Algebras and Applications

Abstract: In this thesis we develop an orbifold theory for a finite, cyclic group $G$ acting on a suitably regular, holomorphic vertex operator algebra $V$. To this end we describe the fusion algebra of the fixed-point vertex operator subalgebra $V^G$ and show that $V^G$ has group-like fusion. Then we solve the extension problem for vertex operator algebras with group-like fusion. We use these results to construct five new holomorphic vertex operator algebras of central charge 24 as lattice orbifolds, contributing to the classification of the $V_1$-structures of suitably regular, holomorphic vertex operator algebras of central charge 24. As another application we present the BRST construction of ten Borcherds-Kac-Moody algebras whose denominator identities are completely reflective automorphic products of singular weight.