Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2012
Let G be an arbitrary non-zero additive subgroup of the complex number field ℂ, and let Vir[G] be the corresponding generalized Virasoro algebra over ℂ. In this paper we determine all irreducible weight modules with finite-dimensional weight spaces over Vir[G]. The classification strongly depends on the index group G. If G does not have a direct summand isomorphic to ℤ (the integers), then such irreducible modules over Vir[G] are only modules of intermediate series whose weight spaces are all one dimensional. Otherwise, there is one further class of modules that are constructed by using intermediate series modules over a generalized Virasoro subalgebra Vir[G0] of Vir[G] for a direct summand G0 of G with G = G0 ⊕ ℤb, where b ∈ G \ G0. This class of irreducible weight modules do not have corresponding weight modules for the classical Virasoro algebra.