Virasoro conformal block

In two-dimensional conformal field theory, Virasoro conformal blocks (named after Miguel Ángel Virasoro) are special functions that serve as building blocks of correlation functions. On a given punctured Riemann surface, Virasoro conformal blocks form a particular basis of the space of solutions of the conformal Ward identities. Zero-point blocks on the torus are characters of representations of the Virasoro algebra; four-point blocks on the sphere reduce to hypergeometric functions in special cases, but are in general much more complicated. In two dimensions as in other dimensions, conformal blocks play an essential role in the conformal bootstrap approach to conformal field theory.