FUSION RESIDUES

We discuss when and how the Verlinde dimensions of a rational conformal field theory can be expressed as correlation functions in a topological LG theory. It is seen that a necessary condition is that the RCFT fusion rules must exhibit an extra symmetry. We consider two particular perturbations of the Grassmannian superpotentials. The topological LG residues in one perturbation, introduced by Gepner, are shown to be a twisted version of the SU(N)k Verlinde dimensions. The residues in the other perturbation are the twisted Verlinde dimensions of another RCFT; these topological LG correlation functions are conjectured to be the correlation functions of the corresponding Grassmannian topological sigma model with a coupling in the action to instanton number.