We prove that the NS cubic superstring field theories are classically equivalent, regardless of the choice of Y_{-2} in their definition, and illustrate it by an explicit evaluation of the action of Erler's solution. We then turn to examine this solution. First, we explain that its cohomology is trivial also in the Ramond sector. Then, we show that the boundary state corresponding to it is identically zero. We conclude that this solution is indeed a closed string vacuum solution despite the absence of a tachyon field on the BPS D-brane.
It is shown that the four-particle amplitude of superstring theory at two loops obtained in [1,2] is equivalent to the previously obtained results in [3,4,5]. Here the ${\bf Z}_2$ symmetry in hyperelliptic Riemann surface plays an important role in the proof.
The three string vertex for Type IIB superstrings in a maximally supersymmetric plane-wave background is investigated. Specifically, we derive a factorization theorem for the Neumann coefficients that generalizes a flat-space result that was obtained some 20 years ago. The resulting formula is used to explore the leading large mu asymptotic behavior, which is relevant for comparison with dual gauge theory results.
We construct an analytic solution for tachyon condensation around identity-based marginal solutions in Berkovits' WZW-like open superstring field theory. Using this, which is a kind of wedge-based solution, the gauge invariant overlaps for the identity-based marginal solutions can be calculated analytically. This is a straightforward extension of a method in bosonic string field theory, which has been elaborated by the authors, to superstring. We also comment on a gauge equivalence relation between the tachyon vacuum solution and its marginally deformed one. From this viewpoint, we can find th…
Using the factorization approach of Gepner and Qiu, I systematically rederive the closed fractional superstring partition functions for K= 4, 8, and 16. For these theories the relationship between the massless graviton and gravi- tino sector and the purely massive sectors is explored. Properties of the massive sectors are investigated. A twist current in these models is found responsible for the occurrence of N=1 space-time supersymmetry. I show this twist current transforms bosonic (fermionic) projection states into fermionic (bosonic) non-projection states and vice-versa.
In a previous paper, we have studied multi-brane solutions in the context of cubic superstring field theory. The kinetic term of the action was computed for these multi-brane solutions, and for the evaluation of the energy, the equation of motion contracted with the solutions itself was simply assumed to be satisfied. In this paper, we compute the cubic term of the action and discuss the validity of the previous assumption. Additionally, we evaluate the Ellwood's gauge invariant observable.
We evaluate the vacuum energy of a simple tachyon vacuum solution using the level truncation scheme in cubic superstring field theory. By truncating the standard Virasoro $L_0$ level expansion of the solution, we obtain a value of the vacuum energy in agreement with Sen's first conjecture.
We reconsider light-cone superstring field theory on the maximally supersymmetric pp-wave background. We find that the results for the fermionic Neumann matrices given so far in the literature are incomplete and verify our expressions by relating them to the bosonic Neumann matrices and proving several non-trivial consistency conditions among them, as for example the generalization of a flat space factorization theorem for the bosonic Neumann matrices. We also study the bosonic and fermionic constituents of the prefactor and point out a subtlety in the relation between continuum and oscillator…
We study classical solutions of vacuum version of Berkovits' superstring field theory, focusing on the (super)ghost sector. We first argue that the supersliver state which is annihilated by eta_0, though it has the correct quantum numbers and solves the equation of motion, is actually non-perturbatively pure-gauge, and hence it fails to describe a D-brane. As a step toward the construction of non-trivial solutions, we calculate e^{-Phi}Qe^{Phi} for twisted superslivers. As a by-product, we find that the bc-twisted sliver solution in bosonic VSFT can, at least formally, also be written as a pur…
In this paper we give an exact analytic solution for tachyon condensation in the modified (picture 0) cubic superstring field theory. We prove the absence of cohomology and, crucially, reproduce the correct value for the D-brane tension. The solution is surprising for two reasons: First, the existence of a tachyon vacuum in this theory has not been definitively established in the level expansion. Second, the solution {\it vanishes} in the GSO$(-)$ sector, implying a ``tachyon vacuum'' solution exists even for a {\it BPS} D-brane.
We show that various disconnected components of the moduli space of superstring vacua with 16 supercharges admit a rationale in terms of BPS un-orientifolds, i.e. type I toroidal compactifications with constant non-vanishing but quantized vacuum expectation values of the NS-NS antisymmetric tensor. These include various heterotic vacua with reduced rank, known as CHL strings, and their dual type II (2,2) superstrings below D=6. Type I vacua without open strings allow for an interpretation of several disconnected components with N_V=10-D. An adiabatic argument relates these unconventional type …
We study a new set of identity-based solutions to analyze the problem of tachyon condensation in open bosonic string field theory and cubic superstring field theory. Even though these identity-based solutions seem to be trivial, it turns out that after performing a suitable gauge transformation, we are left with the known Erler-Schnabl-type solutions which correctly reproduce the value of the D-brane tension. This result shows explicitly that how a seemingly trivial solution can generate a non-trivial configuration which precisely represents to the tachyon vacuum.
We extend the recently constructed NS superstring field theories in the small Hilbert space to give classical field equations for all superstring theories, including Ramond sectors. We also comment on the realization of supersymmetry in this framework.
The inflation model of Gaillard, Lyth and Murayama is revisited, with a systematic scan of the parameter space for dilaton stabilization during inflation.
We clarify a Wess-Zumino-Wtten-like structure including Ramond fields and propose one systematic way to construct gauge invariant actions: Wess-Zumino-Witten-like complete action $S_{\rm WZW}$. We show that Kunitomo-Okawa's action proposed in arXiv:1508.00366 can obtain a topological parameter dependence of Ramond fields and belongs to our WZW-like framework. In this framework, once a WZW-like functional $\mathcal{A}_{η} = \mathcal{A}_{η} [Ψ]$ of a dynamical string field $Ψ$ is constructed, we obtain one realization of $S_{\rm WZW}$ parametrized by $Ψ$. On the basis of this way, we construct a…
We investigate the possibility of false vacuum decay in $N=1$ supergravity theories. By establishing a Bogomol'nyi bound for the energy density stored in the domain wall of the $O(4)$ invariant bubble, we show that supersymmetric vacua remain absolutely stable against false vacuum decay into another supersymmetric vacuum. This conforms with and completes the previous perturbative analysis of Weinberg. Implications for dynamical supersymmetry breaking and decompactification instabilities in superstring theory are discussed. In addition, we show that there are no compact static spherical domain …
It has long been known that in principle, the genus g vacuum amplitude for bosonic strings or superstrings in 26 or 10 dimensions can be entirely determined from conditions of holomorphy. Moreover, this has been done in practice for bosonic strings of low genus. Here we describe in a unified way how to determine the bosonic string and superstring vacuum amplitude in genus 1 and 2 via holomorphy. The main novelty is the superstring analysis in genus 2, where we use holomorphy to get a new understanding of some of the results that previously have been obtained by more explicit calculations.
After discussing the general form of the kinetic operator around the tachyon vacuum, we determine the specific form of the pure-ghost kinetic operator Q^ by requiring the twist invariance of the action. We obtain a novel result that the Grassmann-even piece Q_even of Q^ must act differently on GSO(+) sector and on GSO(-) sector to preserve the twist invariance, and show that this structure is crucial for gauge invariance of the action. With this choice of Q^, we construct a solution in an approximation scheme which is conjectured to correspond to a non-BPS D9-brane. We consider both 0-picture …
We construct tachyon vacuum and half-brane solutions, using an extension of KBc algebra, in the theory around a type of identity-based marginal solutions in modified cubic superstring field theory. With explicit computations, we find that their vacuum energies are the same as those of corresponding solutions around the original theory. It implies that the vacuum energy for the identity-based marginal solution vanishes although straightforward computation of it is subtle. We also evaluate the gauge invariant overlaps for those nontrivial solutions. The values for them are deformed according to …
We complete the proof of unitarity of (compactified) heterotic and type II string field theories by showing that in the cut diagrams only physical states appear in the sum over intermediate states. This analysis takes into account the effect of mass and wave-function renormalization, and the possibility that the true vacuum may be related to the perturbative vacuum by small shifts in the string fields.
Performing a gauge transformation of a simple identity-like solution of superstring field theory, we construct a one-parameter family of solutions, and by evaluating the energy associated to this family, we show that for most of the values of the parameter the solution represents the tachyon vacuum, except for two isolated singular points where the solution becomes the perturbative vacuum and the half brane solution.
Nonperturbative solutions to the nonlinear field equations in the NS sector of cubic as well as nonpolynomial superstring field theory can be obtained from a linear equation which includes a "spectral" parameter λand a coboundary operator Q(λ). We borrow a simple ansatz from the dressing method (for generating solitons in integrable field theories) and show that classical superstring fields can be constructed from any string field T subject merely to Q(λ)T=0. Following the decay of the non-BPS D9 brane in IIA theory and shifting the background to the tachyon vacuum, we repeat the arguments in …
Superstring perturbation theory based on the 1PI effective theory approach has been useful for addressing the problem of mass renormalization and vacuum shift. We derive Ward identities associated with space-time supersymmetry transformation in this approach. This leads to a proof of the equality of renormalized masses of bosons and fermions and identities relating fermionic amplitudes to bosonic amplitudes after taking into account the effect of mass renormalization. This also relates unbroken supersymmetry to a given order in perturbation theory to absence of tadpoles of massless scalars to …
In a general superstring vacuum configuration, the `internal' space (sector) varies in spacetime. When this variation is non-trivial only in two space-like dimensions, the vacuum contains static cosmic strings with finite energy per unit length and which is, up to interactions with matter, an easily computed topological invariant. The total spacetime is smooth although the `internal' space is singular at the center of each cosmic string. In a similar analysis of the Wick-rotated Euclidean model, these cosmic strings acquire expected self-interactions. Also, a possibility emerges to define a gl…
We use level truncated superstring field theory to obtain the effective potential for the Wilson line marginal deformation parameter which corresponds to the constant vacuum expectation value of the U(1) gauge field on the D-brane in a particular direction. We present results for both the BPS and the non-BPS D-brane. In the case of non-BPS D-brane the effective potential has branches corresponding to the extrema of the tachyon potential. In the branch with vanishing tachyon vev (M-branch), the effective potential becomes flatter as the level of the approximation is increased. The branch which …
We construct the cubic interaction vertex and dynamically generated supercharges in light-cone superstring field theory in the pp-wave background. We show that these satisfy the pp-wave superalgebra at first order in string coupling. The cubic interaction vertex and dynamical supercharges presented here differ from the expressions previously given in the literature. Using this vertex we compute various string theory three-point functions and comment on their relation to gauge theory in the BMN limit.
In this work we study new issues involving the type IIB superstring in a time dependent plane wave background with a constant self-dual Ramond-Ramond 5-form and a linear dilaton in the light-like direction. We construct a unitary Bogoliubov generator which relates the asymptotically flat superstring Hilbert space to the finite time Hilbert space. The time dependent vacuum is a superposition of $SU(1, 1)\times SU(2)$ coherent states, which has a particular structure of excitation, characterized by a condensation of right and left moving supertring modes. We calculate the time dependent left/rig…
We review recent developments in the construction of heterotic and type II string field theories and their various applications. These include systematic procedures for determining the shifts in the vacuum expectation values of fields under quantum corrections, computing renormalized masses and S-matrix of the theory around the shifted vacuum and a proof of unitarity of the S-matrix. The S-matrix computed this way is free from all divergences when there are more than 4 non-compact space-time dimensions, but suffers from the usual infrared divergences when the number of non-compact space-time d…
The modified measure theories recommend themselves as a good possibility to go beyond the standard formulation to solve yet unsolved problems. The Galileon measure that is constructed in the way to be invariant under the Galileon shift symmetry is considered in the context of superstring theory. The translation invariance of the vacuum holds up to a Galileon transformations. The supersymmetric action is presented with all terms, including the tension, being derived from the equations of motion.
We present an analytic solution for tachyon condensation on a non-BPS D-brane in Berkovits' open superstring field theory. The solution is presented as a product of $2\times 2$ matrices in two distinct $GL_2$ subgroups of the open string star algebra. All string fields needed for computation of the nonpolynomial action can be derived in closed form, and the action produces the expected non-BPS D-brane tension in accordance with Sen's conjecture. We also comment on how D-brane charges may be encoded in the topology of the tachyon vacuum gauge orbit.
It has been conjectured that at the stationary point of the tachyon potential for the D-brane-anti-D-brane pair or for the non-BPS D-brane of superstring theories, the negative energy density cancels the brane tensions. We study this conjecture using a Wess-Zumino-Witten-like open superstring field theory free of contact term divergences and recently shown to give 60% of the vacuum energy by condensation of the tachyon field alone. While the action is non-polynomial, the multiscalar tachyon potential to any fixed level involves only a finite number of interactions. We compute this potential to…
The heterotic and type II superstring actions are identified in different anomaly-free decompositions of a single topological sigma-model action depending on bosonic and fermionic coordinates, $X^μ$ and $\r^A$ respectively, and of their topological ghosts. This model results from gauge-fixing the topological gauge symmetry $δX^μ= ε^μ(z,\bar z)$ ($μ=1,2,\dots, 10$) and $δ\r^α= ε^α(z,\bar z)$. ($α=1,2.\dots, 16$). From another viewpoint the heterotic and type II superstring actions emerge as two different gauge-fixings of the same closed two-form. Comments are also made concerning the possibilit…
We construct a class of classical solutions in the Berkovits' open superstring field theory. The resulting solutions correspond to marginal boundary deformations in conformal field theory. The vacuum energy vanishes exactly for the solutions. Investigating the theory expanded around one of the solutions, we find that it reflects the effect of background Wilson lines. The solution has a well-defined Fock space expression and it is invariant under space-time supersymmetry transformation.
The fermionic one loop vacuum energy of the superstring theory in a system of non-parallel D1-branes is derived by applying the path integral formalism.
We analyze the consistency of the recently proposed regularization of an identity based solution in open bosonic string field theory. We show that the equation of motion is satisfied when it is contracted with the regularized solution itself. Additionally, we propose a similar regularization of an identity based solution in the modified cubic superstring field theory.
We extend some aspects of vacuum string field theory to superstring field theory in Berkovits' formulation, and we study the star algebra in the fermionic matter sector. After clarifying the structure of the interaction vertex in the operator formalism of Gross and Jevicki, we provide an algebraic construction of the supersliver state in terms of infinite-dimensional matrices. This state is an idempotent string field and solves the matter part of the equation of motion of superstring field theory with a pure ghost BRST operator. We determine the spectrum of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the …
We address the possibility of false vacuum decay in $N=1$ supergravity theories, including those corresponding to superstring vacua. By establishing a Bogomol'nyi bound for the energy density stored in the domain wall of the $O(4)$ invariant bubble, we show that supersymmetric vacua remain absolutely stable against false vacuum decay into another supersymmetric vacuum, including those from a Minkowski to an anti-deSitter (AdS) one. As a consequence, there are no compact static spherical domain walls, while on the other hand there exist planar domain walls interpolating between non-degenerate s…
In [hep-th/0009173] Milton has presented a brief review of some interesting aspects of the theory of the Casimir effect. This comment is aimed at correcting some imprecise statements in that work with respect to the relevance of the Casimir effect for explaining the phenomenon of sonoluminescence.
We analyze the consistency of a recently proposed real tachyon vacuum solution without square roots in open bosonic string field theory. We show that the equation of motion contracted with the solution itself is satisfied. Additionally, by expanding the solution in the basis of the curly $\mathcal{L}_0$ and the traditional $L_0$ eigenstates, we evaluate numerically the vacuum energy and obtain a result in agreement with Sen's conjecture.
Motivated by the work of Polchinski and Strominger on type IIA theory, where the effect of non-trivial field strengths for p-form potentials on a Calabi-Yau space was discussed, we study four-dimensional heterotic string theory in the presence of magnetic field on a 2-cycle in the internal manifold, for both N=4 and N=2 cases. We show that at special points in the moduli space, certain perturbative charged states become tachyonic and stabilize the vacuum by acquiring vacuum expectation values, thereby restoring supersymmetry. We discuss both the cases where the tachyons appear with a tower of …
We construct a supersymmetric version of the ``critical'' non-relativistic bosonic string theory\cite{Kim:2007hb} with its manifest global symmetry. We introduce the anticommuting $bc$ CFT which is the super partner of the $βγ$ CFT. The conformal weights of the $b$ and $c$ fields are both 1/2. The action of the fermionic sector can be transformed into that of the relativistic superstring theory. We explicitly quantize the theory with manifest SO(8) symmetry and find that the spectrum is similar to that of Type IIB superstring theory. There is one notable difference: the fermions are non-chiral…
We check the cancellation of the vacuum energy in the Wess-Zumino model at the two-loop order in the component field formalisms with and without auxiliary fields. We show that in both cases the vacuum energy is equal to zero. However, in the formalism where the auxiliary fields are excluded, the vanishing of the vacuum energy arises due to the cancellation between the potential and kinetic energies, while in the formalism with the auxiliary fields, both terms vanish separately.
The {\em instability of vacuum energy} in de Sitter space as discussed recently by Polyakov is argued to be a generic feature when external gravitational fields are present. It is related to the existence of {\em forbidden} (by momentum conservation) decays derived in some detail by Bros, Epstein and Moschella. Some calculations are discussed in a conformally invariant setting, and a flat space model is presented.
We study a set of asymmetric deformations of non-critical superstring theories in various dimensions. The deformations arise as Kaehler and complex structure deformations of an orthogonal two-torus comprising of a parallel and a transverse direction in the near-horizon geometry of NS5-branes. The resulting theories have the following intriguing features: Spacetime supersymmetry is broken in a continuous fashion and the masses of the lightest modes are lifted. In particular, no bulk or localized tachyons are generated in the non-supersymmetric vacua. We discuss the effects of these deformations…
We study a family of unstable heterotic string theories in more than ten dimensions which are connected via tachyon condensation to the ten-dimensional supersymmetric vacuum of heterotic string theory with gauge group SO(32). Calculating the spectrum of these theories, we find evidence for an S-duality which relates type I string theory in ten dimensions with n additional ninebrane-antininebrane pairs to heterotic string theory in 10+n dimensions with gauge group SO(32+n). The Kaluza-Klein modes of the supercritical dimensions are dual to non-singlet bound states of open strings.
We offer some thoughts regarding the space of string fields. We suggest that this space should be identified as the odd component of a star-algebra and focus among other issues on the role of the mid-point. We argue that theories with mid-point insertions in the action, such as the modified cubic theory can be well behaved, even if this mid-point insertion has a non-trivial kernel. We then discuss the recent proposal by Berkovits and Siegel of a non-minimal superstring field theory. In this theory the action contains a mid-point insertion of a non-zero conformal weight. We show that, while thi…
In $D$-dimensional dilaton gravitational model stationary Schwarzschild type solutions (centrally symmetrical solutions in vacuum) are obtained. They contain the two-parameter set of solutions: the first parameter is proportional to a central mass and the second one describes intensity of the dilaton field. If the latter parameter equals zero we have pure Schwarzschild solution with the black hole and constant dilaton field. But when the mentioned parameter is non-zero and the dilaton is non-constant, the black hole horizon vanishes.
We derive equations of motion for the tachyon field living on an unstable non-BPS D-brane in the level truncated open cubic superstring field theory in the first non-trivial approximation. We construct a special time dependent solution to this equation which describes the rolling tachyon. It starts from the perturbative vacuum and approaches one of stable vacua in infinite time. We investigate conserved energy functional and show that its different parts dominate in different stages of the evolution. We show that the pressure for this solution has its minimum at zero time and goes to minus ene…
In type II superstring theory, the vacuum amplitude at a given loop order $g$ can receive contributions from the boundary of the compactified, genus $g$ supermoduli space of curves $\overline{\mathfrak M}_g$. These contributions capture the long distance or infrared behaviour of the amplitude. The boundary parametrises degenerations of genus $g$ super Riemann surfaces. A holomorphic projection of the supermoduli space onto its reduced space would then provide a way to integrate the holomorphic, superstring measure and thereby give the superstring vacuum amplitude at $g$-loop order. However, su…
We study the level-expansion structure of the NS string field theory actions, mainly focusing on the modified (i.e. 0-picture in the NS sector) cubic superstring field theory. This theory has a non-trivial structure already at the quadratic level due to presence of the picture-changing operator. It is explicitly shown how the usual Maxwell and tachyon actions can be obtained after integrating out the auxiliary fields. We then discuss the reality of the action in the CFT language for all of modified cubic, Witten's cubic and Berkovits' non-polynomial theories. The tachyon condensation problems …
Recent work is reported on inflation model building in the context of supergravity and superstrings, with special emphasis on False Vacuum (`Hybrid') Chaotic Inflation. Globally supersymmetric models do not survive in generic supergravity theories, but fairly simple conditions can be formulated which do ensure successful supergravity inflation. The conditions are met in some of the versions of supergravity that emerge from superstrings.
In a recent letter by Carl M. Bender and S. P. Klevansky [arXiv:1002.3253] an elementary field theory is proposed where the authors claimed that it can account for the existence of family of particles without any employment of group structures. In this work, we relied on the fact that the Dyson-Schwinger equations used by the authors stem from a variational principle and tried to reproduce their results by a mere variational algorithm. We were able to reproduce exactly their results by the employment of two different variational calculations of the vacuum energy in the proposed theory. We show…
We investigate the Schwinger pair creation process in the context of gravitational models with the back reaction of the electric field included in the geometry. The background is also an exact solution of type II superstring theory, where the electric field arises by Kaluza-Klein reduction. We obtain a closed formula for the pair creation rate that incorporates the gravitational back reaction. At weak fields it has the same structure as the general Schwinger formula, albeit pairs are produced by a combination of Schwinger and Unruh effect, the latter due to the presence of a Rindler horizon. I…
