  Working with Lieb's transfer matrix for the dimer model, we point out that
the full set of dimer configurations may be partitioned into disjoint subsets
(sectors) closed under the action of the transfer matrix. These sectors are
labelled by an integer or half-integer quantum number we call the variation
index. In the continuum scaling limit, each sector gives rise to a
representation of the Virasoro algebra. We determine the corresponding
conformal partition functions and their finitizations, and observe an
intriguing link to the Ramond and Neveu-Schwarz sectors of the critical dense
polymer model as described by a conformal field theory with central charge
c=-2.
