At first we introduce an action for the string, which leads to a worldsheet that always is curved. For this action we study the Poincaré symmetry and the associated conserved currents. Then, a generalization of the above action, which contains an arbitrary function of the two-dimensional scalar curvature, will be introduced. An extra scalar field enables us to modify these actions to Weyl invariant models.
We study the worldsheet theory of bosonic string from the point of view of the BV formalism. We explicitly describe the derived Poisson structure which arizes when we expand the Master Action near a Lagrangian submanifold. The BV formalism allows us to clarify the mechanism of holomorphic factorization of string amplitudes.
Using the ambitwistor string, we complete the list of celestial OPE coefficients for supersymmetric theories. This uses the ambitwistor string worldsheet CFT to dynamically generate the OPE coefficients for maximally supersymmetric gauge theory, gravity and Einstein-Yang-Mills theories, including all helicity and orientation configurations. This extends previous purely bosonic results to include supersymmetry and provides explicit formulas which are, to the best of our knowledge, not in the literature. We also examine how the supersymmetric infinite dimensional soft algebras behave compared to…
We present a worldsheet theory that describes maps into a curved target space equipped with a B-field and dilaton. The conditions for the theory to be consistent at the quantum level can be computed exactly, and are that the target space fields obey the nonlinear d=10 supergravity equations of motion, with no higher curvature terms. The path integral is constrained to obey a generalization of the scattering equations to curved space. Remarkably, the supergravity field equations emerge as quantum corrections to these curved space scattering equations.
We formulate target space duality symmetry of NSR superstring from the perspectives of worldsheet. The worldsheet action is presented in the superspace formalism in the presence of massless backgrounds. We start from a ${\hat D}$-dimensional target space worldsheet action and compactify the theory on a d-dimensional torus, $T^d$. It is assumed that the backgrounds are independent of compact (super)coordinates. We adopt the formalism of our earlier work to introduce dual supercoordinates along compact directions and introduce the corresponding dual backgrounds. It is demonstrated that combined …
A parametrization of (super) moduli space near the corners corresponding to bosonic or Neveu-Schwarz open string degenerations is introduced for worldsheets of arbitrary topology. With this parametrization, Feynman graph polynomials arise as the $α' \to 0$ limit of objects on moduli space. Furthermore, the integration measures of string theory take on a very simple and elegant form.
We consider the noncommutativity parameter of the space-time as a bosonic worldsheet field. By finding a fermionic super-partner for it, we can find star products between the boson-boson, boson-fermion and fermion-fermion fields of superstring worldsheet and also between superfields of the worldsheet superspace. We find a two dimensional action for the noncommutativity parameter and its fermionic partner. We discuss the symmetries of this action.
Mason and Skinner proposed the ambitwistor string theory which directly reproduces the formulas for the amplitudes of massless particles proposed by Cachazo, He and Yuan. In this paper we discuss geometries of the moduli space of worldsheets associated to the bosonic or the RNS ambitwistor string. Further, we investigate the factorization properties of the amplitudes when an internal momentum is near on-shell in the abstract CFT language. Along the way, we propose the existence of the ambitwistor strings with three or four fermionic worldsheet currents.
The new principle of constrained twistor-like variables is proposed for construction of the Cartan 1-forms on the worldsheet of the D=3,4,6 bosonic strings. The corresponding equations of motion are derived. Among them there are two well-known Liouville equations for real and complex worldsheet functions W(s,\bar s). The third one in which W(s,\bar s) is replaced by the quaternionic worldsheet function is unknown and can be thought of as that of the SU(2) nonlinear sigma-model governing the classical dynamics of the bosonic string in D=6.
We continue our study of open string perturbation theory on the lightcone worldsheet lattice, which is an $M\times N$ rectangular grid. Here $M$ is the number of $P^+$ units and $N$ is the number of $ix^+$ units. We extend our previous analysis to the bosonic open string one planar loop self-energy. We find that, when all open string coordinates satisfy Neumann conditions, the ultraviolet worldsheet divergences associated with the closed string tachyon and boundary effects can be cancelled by renormalization of bulk ($AM^1$) and boundary ($BM^0$) worldsheet "cosmological constants". The bulk d…
We discuss the relation between unintegrated and integrated vertex operators in string worldsheet theory, in the context of BV formalism. In particular, we clarify the origin of the Fradkin-Tseytlin term. We first consider the case of bosonic string, and then concentrate on the case of pure spinor superstring in $AdS_5\times S^5$. In particular, we compute the action of $b_0 - \bar{b}_0$ on the beta-deformation vertex. As a by-product, we formulate some new conjectures on general finite-dimensional vertices.
We initiate the perturbative study of the S-matrix for the excitations on top of the GKP vacuum at strong coupling. Using the string sigma model action expanded around the null cusp classical solution, we compute the tree-level S-matrix elements and compare them with the predictions from the asymptotic Bethe Ansatz. We also check the factorization of the three-body S-matrix for various bosonic processes, finding precise agreement with the constraints imposed by integrability.
We study a Bosonic scalar in 1+1 dimensional curved space that is coupled to a dynamical metric field. This metric, along with the affine connection, also appears in the Einstein-Hilbert action when written in first order form. After illustrating the Dirac constraint analysis in Yang-Mills theory, we apply this formulation to the Einstein-Hilbert action and the action of the Bosonic scalar field, first separately and then together. Only in the latter case does a dynamical degree of freedom emerge.
We study worldsheet conformal invariance for bosonic string propagating in a curved background using the hamiltonian formalism. In order to formulate the problem in a background independent manner we first rewrite the worldsheet theory in a language where it describes a single particle moving in an infinite-dimensional curved spacetime. This language is developed at a formal level without regularizing the infinite-dimensional traces. Then we adopt DeWitt's (Phys.Rev.85:653-661,1952) coordinate independent formulation of quantum mechanics in the present context. Given the expressions for the cl…
We calculate some tree level scattering amplitudes for a generalization of the protostring, which is a novel string model implied by the simplest string bit models. These bit models produce a lightcone worldsheet which supports $s$ integer moded Grassmann fields. In the generalization we supplement this Grassmann worldsheet system with $d=24-s$ transverse coordinate worldsheet fields. The protostring corresponds to $s=24$ and the bosonic string to $s=0$. The interaction vertex is a simple overlap with no operator insertions at the break/join point. Assuming that $s$ is even we calculate the mu…
We give a simple method to calculate the semiclassical $D$-brane boundary states of the bosonic string propagating in an arbitrary curved spacetime in a perturbative approach in which the metric $g_{AB}$ and the constant antisymmetric Kalb-Ramond field $b_{AB}$ form the general background which is treated exactly. As an important particular case, it is shown that at the first order perturbation theory there are $D$-brane coherent states in the $d$-dimensional {\em AdS} spacetime if certain conditions are fulfilled by the boundary projectors.
We propose the action for the nonrelativistic string invariant under general coordinate transformations on the string worldsheet. The Hamiltonian formulation for the nonrelativistic string is given. Particular solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equations are found in the time gauge.
We perform a detailed study of the type IIA superstring in AdS(4) x CP(3). After introducing suitable bosonic light-cone and fermionic kappa worldsheet gauges we derive the pure boson and fermion SU(2|2) x U(1) covariant light-cone Hamiltonian up to quartic order in fields. As a first application of our derivation we calculate energy shifts for string configurations in a closed fermionic subsector and successfully match these with a set of light-cone Bethe equations. We then turn to investigate the mismatch between the degrees of freedom of scattering states and oscillatory string modes. Since…
The sigma model approach to the closed bosonic string on the affine-metric manifold is considered. The two-loop metric counterterms for the nonlinear two-dimensional sigma model with affine-metric target manifold are calculated. The correlation of the metric and affine connection is considered as the result of the ultraviolet finiteness (or beta-function vanishing) condition for the nonlinear sigma model. The examples of the nonflat nonRiemannian manifolds resulting in the trivial metric beta-function are suggested.
We study duality and local symmetries of closed bosonic string from the perspectives of worldsheet approach in the phase space path integral formalism. It is shown that the Ward identities reflecting the local symmetries associated with massless excitations such as graviton and antisymmetric tensor can be cast in a duality covariant form. It is shown how the manifestly O(d,d) invariant Hamiltonian can be obtained in the Hassan-Sen toroidal compactification scheme, d being the number of compact dimensions. It is proposed that massive excited states possess a T-duality symmetry for constant (ten…
Free scalar field theory in the sector with a large number of particles can be interpreted as bosonic string theory on anti-de Sitter space of vanishing radius. Different ways of writing the field theory Hamiltonian translate to different ways of reparametrizing the world-sheet sigma coordinate. Adding a mass term in the field theory corresponds to cutting off the warped AdS direction, with cut-off inversely proportional to the mass. The string theory has neither tachyon, nor critical dimension.
We present vertex operators for ambitwistor strings around generic Yang-Mills, gravity and NS-NS backgrounds. The requirement that vertex operators lie in the BRST cohomology of the worldsheet theory enforces the appropriate linear equations of motion (as well as gauge fixing conditions) for the respective perturbations in these backgrounds. Due to the nature of ambitwistor strings, no approximation is taken and all calculations around the backgrounds are exact.
We apply the BRST approach, previously developed for higher spin field theories, to gauge invariant Lagrangian construction for antisymmetric massive and massless bosonic fields in arbitrary d-dimensional curved space. The obtained theories are reducible gauge models both in massless and massive cases and the order of reducibility grows with the value of the rank of the antisymmetric field. In both the cases the Lagrangians contain the sets of auxiliary fields and possess more rich gauge symmetry in comparison with standard Lagrangian formulation for the antisymmetric fields. This serves addit…
We construct the tensionless limit of bosonic string theory in terms of a family of worldsheets with increasing acceleration and show that the null string emerges in the limit of infinite acceleration when the Rindler horizon is hit. We discover a novel phenomenon we call null string complementarity, which gives two distinct observer dependent pictures of the emergence of open string physics from closed strings in the tensionless limit. The closed string vacuum as observed by the inertial worldsheet turns into a D-instanton in the tensionless limit, while in the complementary picture from the …
We study the one loop correction to the closed bosonic string propagator, including the possibile presence of D-branes, by discretizing the light cone worldsheet on an M times N rectangular lattice, with M proportional to P^+ and N+1 proportional to ix^+. The integrals over the moduli then become sums which we evaluate numerically. The main purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of the worldsheet lattice as a regulator of the divergences in string perturbation theory. There are two natural geometrical counterterms for the lightcone worldsheet, one proportional to the area of the wo…
We study bosonic string theory in the light-cone gauge on AdS_3 spacetime with zero radius of curvature (in string units) R/\sqrt{α^\prime}=0. We find that the worldsheet theory admits an infinite number of conserved quantities which are naturally interpreted as spacetime charges and which form a representation of (two commuting copies of) a Virasoro algebra. Near the boundary of AdS_3 these charges are found to be isomorphic to the infinite set of asymptotic Killing vectors of AdS_3 found originally by Brown and Henneaux. In addition to the spacetime Virasoro algebra, there is a worldsheet Vi…
We investigate the behaviour of the bosonic string on AdS3 with H-flux at stringy scales, looking in particular for a `tensionless' limit in which there are massless higher spin gauge fields. We do this by revisiting the physical spectrum of the sl(2,R)$_k$ WZW model and considering the limit in which k becomes small. At k=3 we find that there is an infinite stringy tower of massless higher spin fields which are part of a continuum of light states. This can be viewed as a novel tensionless limit, which appears to be distinct from that inferred from the symmetric orbifold description of superst…
We revisit the construction of the tensionless limit of closed bosonic string theory in the covariant formulation in the light of Galilean conformal symmetry that rises as the residual gauge symmetry on the tensionless worldsheet. We relate the analysis of the fundamentally tensionless theory to the tensionless limit that is viewed as a contraction of worldsheet coordinates. Analysis of the quantum regime uncovers interesting physics. The degrees of freedom that appear in the tensionless string are fundamentally different from the usual string states. Through a Bogoliubov transformation on the…
We show how string theory can be used to reproduce the one-loop two-point photon amplitude in noncommutative U(1) gauge theory. Using a simple realization of the gauge theory in bosonic string theory, we extract from a string cylinder computation in the decoupling limit the exact one loop field theory result. The result is obtained entirely from the region of moduli space where massless open strings dominate. Our computation indicates that the unusual IR/UV singularities of noncommutative field theory do not come from closed string modes in any simple way.
We study the three-pronged strings (three string junctions) from the point of view of D-string worldsheet gauge theory. We justify interpreting kink solutions in the 2-dimensional gauge theory as pronged strings by examining BPS energy bounds obtained from this theory. When the ends of the pronged string are on D3-branes, the configuration preserves 1/4 supersymmetry with BPS conditions including the Nahm equation. Using solutions of the Nahm equation explicitly, we treat string junction configuration ending on the D3-branes from the viewpoint of the D-string. In particular, when two separated…
The recently established B-RNS-GSS formalism is extended for the description of the heterotic superstring in curved backgrounds. We propose a generalized action and BRST charge defined in the small Hilbert space with the standard form of an $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ worldsheet superconformal theory with superconformal generator $G$ and stress tensor $T$. We show that $\big\{G,G\big\}=-2T$ implies the D=10 N=1 supergravity and super-Yang-Mills equations of motion, as well as holomorphicity of the BRST charge.
F-theory in its most general sense should be a theory defined on a worldvolume of higher dimension than the worldsheet, that reproduces string results perturbatively but includes nonperturbative supergravity solutions at the first-quantized level. This implies that in some sense it should contain the same oscillator modes as the string but an enlarged set of zero-modes. In this paper we concentrate on the higher-dimensional properties of the worldvolume (rather than those of spacetime): "Ghost" dimensions are added to the worldvolume, as might be expected in a "zeroth-quantized" approach to th…
The pure spinor formalism for the superstring can be formulated as a twisted N=2 worldsheet theory with fermionic generators $j_{BRST}$ and composite $b$ ghost. After untwisting the formalism to an N=1 worldsheet theory with fermionic stress tensor $j_{BRST}+b$, the worldsheet variables combine into N=1 worldsheet superfields $X^m$ and $Θ^α$ together with a superfield constraint relating $DX^m$ and $DΘ^α$. The constraint implies that the worldsheet superpartner of $θ^α$ is a bosonic twistor variable, and different solutions of the constraint give rise to the pure spinor or extended RNS formali…
In bosonic string theory, the solutions to the string equations of motion may be expressed as two-dimensional manifolds in a relativistic spacetime. We develop MATLAB software for the generation of open and closed string solutions and for the convenient visualization of these solutions.
We study the multiloop amplitudes of the light-cone gauge closed bosonic string field theory for $d \neq 26$. We show that the amplitudes can be recast into a BRST invariant form by adding a nonstandard worldsheet theory for the longitudinal variables $X^{\pm}$ and the reparametrization ghost system. The results obtained in this paper for bosonic strings provide a first step towards the examination whether the dimensional regularization works for the multiloop amplitudes of the light-cone gauge superstring field theory.
In marked contrast to conventional string theory, ambitwistor strings remain solvable worldsheet theories when coupled to curved background fields. We use this fact to consider the quantization of ambitwistor strings on plane wave metric and plane wave gauge field backgrounds. In each case, the worldsheet model is anomaly free as a consequence of the background satisfying the field equations. We derive vertex operators (in both fixed and descended picture numbers) for gravitons and gluons on these backgrounds from the worldsheet CFT, and study the 3-point functions of these vertex operators on…
A systematic construction is given for N=1 open string boundary coupling to Abelian and non-Abelian Dp-brane worldvolume fields, in general curved backgrounds. The basic ingredient is a set of four ``boundary vectors'' that provide a unified description of boundary conditions and boundary couplings. We then turn to the problem of apparent inconsistency of non-Abelian worldvolume scalar couplings (obtained by T-duality), with general covariance. It means that the couplings cannot be obtained from a covariant action by gauge fixing ordinary general coordinate transformations (GCT). It is shown t…
The superfield formulation of type II Green-Schwarz superstring with n= (1,0) worldsheet supersymmetry is constructed. It is shown that the inclusion of the second spinor coordinate in the target superspase leads to the possibility of the reparametrization invariant description of the superstring in the absence of any field from the two dimensional supergravity multiplet. The twistor-like action of Chern-Simons type for bosonic string in D=3,4,6,10 is obtained from the component form of the superstring action.
We find a general class of pp-wave solutions of type IIB string theory such that the light cone gauge worldsheet lagrangian is that of an interacting massive field theory. When the light cone Lagrangian has (2,2) supersymmetry we can find backgrounds that lead to arbitrary superpotentials on the worldsheet. We consider situations with both flat and curved transverse spaces. We describe in some detail the background giving rise to the N=2 sine Gordon theory on the worldsheet. Massive mirror symmetry relates it to the deformed $CP^1$ model (or sausage model) which seems to elude a purely supergr…
Embedding of a bosonic and/or fermionic p-brane into a generic curved $D$-dimensional spacetime is considered. In contradistinction to the bosonic p-brane case, when there are no constraints on a generic curving whatsoever, the usual superbrane can be embedded into a curved spacetime of a restricted curving only. A generic curving is achieved by extending the odd sector of a superbrane as to transform w.r.t. $\bar{SL}(D,R)$, i.e. $\bar{Diff}(D,R)$ infinite-component spinorial representations. Relevant constructions in the D=3 case are considered.
We quantize in light cone gauge the bosonic sector of string theory on Anti-de Sitter space in the zero curvature radius limit. We find that the worldsheet falls apart into a theory of free partons and map the Hilbert space of the string theory to the Hilbert space of a free scalar in light-front description. We outline how the string worldsheet reproduces the field theory at weak coupling.
We put forward the Axionic String Ansatz (ASA), which provides a unified description for the worldsheet dynamics of confining strings in pure Yang--Mills theory both in $D=3$ and $D=4$ space-time dimensions. The ASA is motivated by the excitation spectrum of long confining strings, as measured on a lattice, and by recently constructed integrable axionic non-critical string models. According to the ASA, pure gluodynamics in 3D is described by a non-critical bosonic string theory without any extra local worldsheet degrees of freedom. We argue that this assumption fixes the set of quantum numbers…
We consider a prescription for introducing deformed dispersion relations in the bosonic string action. We find that in a subset of such theories it remains true that the embedding coordinates propagate linearly on the worldsheet. While both the string modes and the center of mass propagate with deformed dispersion relations, the speed of light remains energy independent. We consider the canonical quantization of these strings, and find that it is possible to choose theories so that ghost modes still decouple, as usual. However the Virasoro algebra now exhibits an energy dependent central charg…
We study restrictions on scattering amplitudes on the worldvolume of branes and strings (such as confining flux tubes in QCD) implied by the target space Poincare symmetry. We focus on exploring the conditions for the string worldsheet theory to be integrable. We prove that for a higher dimensional membrane the scattering amplitudes for the translational Goldstone modes ("branons") are double soft. At one-loop double softness is generically violated for the string worldsheet scattering as a consequence of collinear singularities. Violation of double softness implies in turn the breakdown of in…
In this work, we investigate the bosonic chiral string in the sectorized interpretation, computing its spectrum, kinetic action and $3$-point amplitudes. As expected, the bosonic ambitwistor string is recovered in the tensionless limit. We also consider an extension of the bosonic model with current algebras. In that case, we compute the effective action and show that it is essentially the same as the action of the mass-deformed $(DF)^{2}$ theory found by Johansson and Nohle. Aspects which might seem somewhat contrived in the original construction --- such as the inclusion of a scalar transfor…
Although the energy spectrum of the Heisenberg spin chain on a circle defined by $H=\frac{1}{4}\sum_{k=1}^M(σ_k^xσ_{k+1}^x+σ_k^yσ_{k+1}^y +Δσ_k^zσ_{k+1}^z)$ is well known for any fixed $M$, the boundary conditions vary according to whether $M\in 4\mathbb{N}+r$, where $r=-1,0,1,2$, and also according to the parity of the number of overturned spins in the state, In string theory all these cases must be allowed because interactions involve a string with $M$ spins breaking into strings with $M_1<M$ and $M-M_1$ spins (or vice versa). We organize the energy spectrum and degeneracies of $H$ in the ca…
We consider bosonic strings propagating on Euclidean adS_3, and study in particular the realization of various worldsheet symmetries. We give a proper definition for the Brown-Henneaux asymptotic target space symmetry, when acting on the string action, and derive the Giveon-Kutasov-Seiberg worldsheet contour integral representation simply by using Noether's theorem. We show that making identifications in the target space is equivalent to the insertion of an (exponentiated) graviton vertex operator carrying the corresponding charge. Finally, we point out an interesting relation between 3D gravi…
Worldsheet string theory on $\mathrm{AdS}_3 \times \mathbf{S}^3 \times \mathrm{K3}$
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam（阿姆斯特丹大学理论物理研究所）；Institut für Theoretische Physik, ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院理论物理研究所）；Department of Mathematics, King’s College London（伦敦国王学院数学系）；Center for Quantum Mathematics and Physics (QMAP) Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California, Davis（加州大学戴维斯分校物理学与天文学系量子数学与物理中心）
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is localized to the moduli space of harmonic maps from the worldsheet to the target. The Lagrangian is of fourth order in worldsheet derivatives. After gauging worldsheet diffeomorphisms in this ``harmonic topological sigma model,'' we obtain a topological string theory dominated by minimal-area maps. The bosonic part of this ``topological rigid string'' Lagrangian c…
Celestial operator product expansions (OPEs) arise from the collinear limit of scattering amplitudes and play a vital role in celestial holography. In this paper, we derive the celestial OPEs of massless fields in string theory from the worldsheet. By studying the worldsheet OPEs of vertex operators in worldsheet CFT and further examining their behaviors in the collinear limit, we find that new vertex operators for the massless fields in string theory are generated and become dominant in the collinear limit. Mellin transforming to the conformal basis yields exactly the celestial OPEs in celest…
We compute the one-loop corrections to the tachyon potentials in both, bosonic and supersymmetric, cases by worldsheet methods. In the process, we also get some insight on tachyon condensation from the viewpoint of closed string modes and show that there is an instability due to the closed string tachyon in the bosonic case.
We construct bosonic and fermionic matrix-vector models which describe orbifolded string worldsheets at a limit in which the dimension of the vector space and the matrix order are taken to infinity. We evaluate tree-level one-loop or multiloop amplitudes of these string worldsheets by means of Schwinger-Dyson equations and derive their expressions at the multicritical points. Some of these amplitudes resemble or are closely related to those of ordinary multicritical Hermitian matrix models by a constant factor, whereas some differ significantly.
We examine the one-loop partition function describing the fluctuations of the superstring in a Schwarzschild-AdS$_5\times S^5$ background. On the bosonic side, we demonstrate the one-loop equivalence of the Nambu-Goto action and the Polyakov action for a general worldsheet, while on the fermionic side, we consider the reduction of the ten-dimensional Green-Schwarz fermion action to a two-dimensional worldsheet action. We derive the partition functions of the worldsheets corresponding to both straight and parallel Wilson lines. We show that the UV divergences of the functional determinants in t…
We study a modified bosonic string theory that has a pressureless ``dust'' field on the string worldsheet. The dust is a real scalar field with unit gradient which breaks conformal invariance. Hamiltonian analysis reveals a time reparametrization constraint linear in the dust field momentum and a spatial diffeomorphism constraint. This feature provides a natural ``dust time" gauge in analogy with the parametrized particle. In this gauge we give a Fock quantization of the theory, which is complete and self-consistent in d<26. The Hamiltonian of the theory is not a constraint; as a consequence t…
