Bi-branes: Target space geometry for world sheet topological defects

We establish that the relevant geometric data for the target space description of world sheet topological defects are submanifolds - which we call bi-branes - in the product M(1) x M(2) of the two target spaces involved. Very much like branes, they are equipped with a vector bundle, which in backgrounds with non-trivial B-field is actually a twisted vector bundle. We explain how to define Wess-Zumino terms in the presence of bi-branes and discuss the fusion of bi-branes. In the case of WZW theories, symmetry preserving bi-branes are shown to be biconjugacy classes. The algebra of functions on a biconjugacy class is shown to be related, in the limit of large level, to the partition function for defect fields. We finally indicate how the Verlinde algebra arises in the fusion of WZW bi-branes. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.