Modular group representations and fusion in logarithmic conformal field theories and in the quantum group center

The SL(2,Z) representation $\pi$ on the center of the restricted quantum group U_{q}sl(2) at the primitive 2p-th root of unity is shown to be equivalent to the SL(2,Z) representation on the extended characters of the logarithmic (1,p) conformal field theory model. The multiplicative Jordan decomposition of the U_{q}sl(2) ribbon element determines the decomposition of $\pi$ into a ``pointwise'' product of two commuting SL(2,Z) representations, one of which restricts to the Grothendieck ring; this restriction is equivalent to the SL(2,Z) representation on the (1,p)-characters, related to the fusion algebra via a nonsemisimple Verlinde formula. The Grothendieck ring of U_{q}sl(2) at the primitive 2p-th root of unity is shown to coincide with the fusion algebra of the (1,p) logarithmic conformal field theory model. As a by-product, we derive q-binomial identities implied by the fusion algebra realized in the center of~U_{q}sl(2).