It is well known in NSR string theory, that vertex operators can be constructed in various ``pictures''. Recently this was discussed in the context of pure spinor formalism. NSR picture changing operators have an elegant super-geometrical interpretation. In this paper we provide a generalization of this super-geometrical construction, which is also applicable to the pure spinor formalism.
Exotic spinors arise in non-simply connected base manifolds due to the nonequivalent spinor structure. The dynamics of exotic spinors are endowed with an additional differential factor. In this work, we merge the exotic spinor scenario with Cartan's spinor viewpoint, according to which a given spacetime point is understood as a kind of composition of spinor entries. As a result, we arrive at a geometrical setup in which the Minkowski metric is perturbed by elements reflecting the nontrivial topology. Such corrections shall be felt by any physical system studied with the resulting bilinear form…
Using a new proposal for the "picture lowering" operators, we compute the tree level scattering amplitude in the minimal pure spinor formalism by performing the integration over the pure spinor space as a multidimensional Cauchy-type integral. The amplitude will be written in terms of the projective pure spinor variables, which turns out to be useful to relate rigorously the minimal and non-minimal versions of the pure spinor formalism. The natural language for relating these formalisms is the Cech-Dolbeault isomorphism. Moreover, the Dolbeault cocycle corresponding to the tree-level scatterin…
Free spinor fields, with spin 1/2, are explored in details in the momentum picture of motion in Lagrangian quantum field theory. The field equations are equivalently written in terms of creation and annihilation operators and on their base the anticommutation relations are derived. Some problems concerning the vacuum and state vectors of free spinor field are discussed. Several Lagrangians, describing free spinor fields, are considered and the basic consequences of them are investigated.
Transition probability calculations of strong field particle processes in the Furry picture, typically use fermion Volkov solutions. These solutions have a relatively complicated spinor due to the interaction of the electron spin with a strong external field, which in turn leads to unwieldy trace calculations. The simplification of these calculations would aid theoretical studies of strong field phenomena such as the predicted resonance behaviour of higher order Furry picture processes. Here, Fierz transformations of Volkov spinors are developed and applied to a 1st order and a 2nd order Furry…
This article expands for spinor fields the recently developed Dynamical Bridge formalism which relates a linear dynamics in a curved space to a nonlinear dynamics in Minkowski space. Astonishingly, this leads to a new geometrical mechanism to generate a chiral symmetry breaking without mass, providing an alternative explanation for the undetected right-handed neutrinos. We consider a spinor field obeying the Dirac equation in an effective curved space constructed by its own currents. This way, both chiralities of the spinor field satisfy the same dynamics in the curved space. Subsequently, the…
We present a geometrical unification theory in a Kaluza-Klein approach that achieve the geometrization of a generic gauge theory bosonic component. We show how it is possible to derive the gauge charge conservation from the invariance of the model under extra-dimensional translations and to geometrize gauge connections for spinors, thus we can introduce the matter just by free spinorial fields. Then, we present the applications to i)a pentadimensional manifold $V^{4}\otimes S^{1}$, so reproducing the original Kaluza-Klein theory, unless some extensions related to the rule of the scalar field c…
Lattice spinor gravity is a proposal for regularized quantum gravity based on fermionic degrees of freedom. In our lattice model the local Lorentz symmetry is generalized to complex transformation parameters. The difference between space and time is not put in a priori, and the euclidean and Minkowski quantum field theory are unified in one functional integral. The metric and its signature arise as a result of the dynamics, corresponding to a given ground state or cosmological solution. Geometrical objects as the vierbein, spin connection or the metric are expectation values of collective fiel…
Recently Berkovits has constructed a picture raised, compound field $b_B$ which is used to compute higher loop amplitudes in the pure spinor approach of superstrings. On the other hand, in the twisted and gauge fixed, superembedding approach with $n=2$ world-sheet (w.s.) supersymmetry that reproduces the pure spinor formulation, a field $b$ appears quite naturally as the current of one of the two twisted charges of the w.s. supersymmetry, the other being the BRST charge. In this paper we study the relation between $b$ and $b_B$. We shall show that $bZ$, where $Z$ is a picture raising operator,…
In the framework of the pure spinor approach of superstring theories, we describe the Y-formalism and use it to compute the picture raised b-field. At the end we discuss briefly the new, non-minimal formalism of Berkovits and the related non-minimal b-field.
We show the equivalence of the different types of pure spinor constraints geometrically derived from the Free Differential Algebras of N=2 d=10 supergravities. Firstly, we compute the general solutions of these constraints, using both a G_2 and an SO(8) covariant decomposition of the 10d chiral spinors. Secondly, we verify that the number of independent degrees of freedom is equal to that implied by the Poincare' pure spinor constraints so-far used for superstrings, namely twenty two. Thirdly, we show the equivalence between the FDA type IIA/B constraints among each other and with the Poincare…
For several classes of BPS vacua, we find a procedure to modify the PDEs that imply preserved supersymmetry and the equations of motion so that they still imply the latter but not the former. In each case we trace back this supersymmetry-breaking deformation to a distinct modification of the pure spinor equations that provide a geometrical interpretation of supersymmetry. We give some concrete examples: first we generalize the Imamura class of Mink6 solutions by removing a symmetry requirement, and then derive some local and global solutions both before and after breaking supersymmetry.
Following suggestions of Nekrasov and Siegel, a non-minimal set of fields are added to the pure spinor formalism for the superstring. Twisted $\hat c$=3 N=2 generators are then constructed where the pure spinor BRST operator is the fermionic spin-one generator, and the formalism is interpreted as a critical topological string. Three applications of this topological string theory include the super-Poincare covariant computation of multiloop superstring amplitudes without picture-changing operators, the construction of a cubic open superstring field theory without contact-term problems, and a ne…
We show that the pure spinor formalism proposed by Berkovits to covariantly quantize superstrings is a gauge fixed, twisted version of the complexified n=2 superembedding formulation of the superstring. This provides the Berkovits approach with a geometrical superdiffeomorphism invariant ground. As a consequence, the absence of the worldsheet (super)diffeomorphism ghosts in the pure spinor quantization prescription and the nature of the Berkovits BRST charge and antighost are clarified. Since superembedding is classically equivalent to the Green-Schwarz formulation, we thus also relate the lat…
We present the Y-formalism in the pure spinor quantization of superstring theory in detail. Even if the $ω-λ$ OPE is not completely free owing to the presence of the projector reflecting the pure spinor constraint, it is shown that one can construct at the quantum level a conformal field theory in full agreement with the Berkovits' pure spinor formalism. The OPE's of the two formalisms are the same if we define the relevant operators involving $ω$ in a suitable manner. Moreover the Y-formalism at hand is utilized to find the full expression of the covariant, picture raised $b$ antighost $b_B$,…
We apply a global and geometrically well-defined formalism for spinor-dilaton-gravity to two-dimensional manifolds. We discuss the general formalism and focus attention on some particular choices of the dilatonic potential. For constant dilatonic potential the model turns out to be completely solvable and the general solution is found. For linear and exponential dilatonic potentials we present the class of exact solutions with a Killing vector.
Using the non-minimal version of the pure spinor formalism, manifestly super-Poincare covariant superstring scattering amplitudes can be computed as in topological string theory without the need of picture-changing operators. The only subtlety comes from regularizing the functional integral over the pure spinor ghosts. In this paper, it is shown how to regularize this functional integral in a BRST-invariant manner, allowing the computation of arbitrary multiloop amplitudes. The regularization method simplifies for scattering amplitudes which contribute to ten-dimensional F-terms, i.e. terms in…
This is the second of a series of two papers where decoupling of unphysical states in the minimal pure spinor formalism is investigated. The multi-loop amplitude prescription for the minimal pure spinor superstring formulated in hep-th/0406055 involves the insertion of picture changing operators in the path integral. In the first paper it was shown that these operators are not BRST closed inside correlators. Therefore a new proof of decoupling of BRST exact states is needed. In this paper we present such a proof, which applies to arbitrary genus. It relies in part on a (previously unnoticed) i…
This is the first of a series of two papers where decoupling of unphysical states in the minimal pure spinor formalism is investigated. The multi-loop amplitude prescription for the minimal pure spinor superstring formulated in hep-th/0406055 involves the insertion of picture changing operators in the path integral. These operators are BRST closed in a distributional sense and depend on a number of constant tensors. One can trace the origin of these insertions to gauge fixing, so the amplitudes are formally independent of the constant tensors. We show however by explicit tree-level and one-loo…
Geometrical meaning of superstring pictures is discussed in details. An off-shell generalization of the picture changing operation and its inverse are constructed. It is demonstrated that the generalised operations are inverse to each other on-shell while off-shell their product is a projection operator.
The geometric picture of the star-product based on its Fourier representation kernel is utilized in the evaluation of chains of star-products and the intuitive appreciation of their associativity and symmetries. Such constructions appear even simpler for a variant asymmetric product, and carry through for the standard star-product supersymmetrization.
Pure spinor formalism implies that supergravity equations in space-time are equivalent to the requirement that the worldsheet sigma-model satisfies certain properties. Here we point out that one of these properties has a particularly transparent geometrical interpretation. Namely, there exists an odd nilpotent vector field on some singular supermanifold, naturally associated to space-time. All supergravity fields are encoded in this vector field, as coefficients in its normal form. The nilpotence implies, modulo some zero modes, that they satisfy the SUGRA equations of motion.
Although the AdS_5xS^5 worldsheet action is not quadratic, some features of the pure spinor formalism are simpler in an AdS_5xS^5 background than in a flat background. The BRST operator acts geometrically, the left and right-moving pure spinor ghosts can be treated as complex conjugates, the zero mode measure factor is trivial, and the b ghost does not require non-minimal fields. Furthermore, a topological version of the AdS_5xS^5 action with the same worldsheet variables and BRST operator can be constructed by gauge-fixing a G/G principal chiral model where G=PSU(2,2|4). This topological mode…
After adding a pair of non-minimal fields and performing a similarity transformation, the BRST operator in the pure spinor formalism is expressed as a conventional-looking BRST operator involving the Virasoro constraint and (b,c) ghosts, together with 12 fermionic constraints. This BRST operator can be obtained by gauge-fixing the Green-Schwarz superstring where the 8 first-class and 8 second-class Green-Schwarz constraints are combined into 12 first-class constraints. Alternatively, the pure spinor BRST operator can be obtained from the RNS formalism by twisting the ten spin-half RNS fermions…
The purpose of this paper is to study harmonic spinors defined on a 1-parameter family of Einstein manifolds which includes Taub-NUT, Eguchi-Hanson and $P^2(C)$ with the Fubini-Study metric as particular cases. We discuss the existence of and explicitly solve for spinors harmonic with respect to the Dirac operator twisted by a geometrically preferred connection. The metrics examined are defined, for generic values of the parameter, on a non-compact manifold with the topology of $C^2$ and extend to $P^2(C)$ as edge-cone metrics. As a consequence, the subtle boundary conditions of the Atiyah-Pat…
A ten-dimensional super-Poincare covariant formalism for the superstring was recently developed which involves a BRST operator constructed from superspace matter variables and a pure spinor ghost variable. A super-Poincare covariant prescription was defined for computing tree amplitudes and was shown to coincide with the standard RNS prescription. In this paper, picture-changing operators are used to define functional integration over the pure spinor ghosts and to construct a suitable $b$ ghost. A super-Poincare covariant prescription is then given for the computation of N-point multiloop ampl…
A new procedure was recently proposed for constructing massless Type IIB vertex operators in the pure spinor formalism. Instead of expressing these closed string vertex operators as left-right products of open string vertex operators, they were instead constructed from the complex N=2 d=10 superfield whose lowest real and imaginary components are the dilaton and Ramond-Ramond axion. These Type IIB vertex operators take a simple form in the -8 picture and are related to the usual vertex operators in the zero picture by acting with picture-raising operators. In this paper, we compute explicitly …
The algebra of spacetime supersymmetry generators in the RNS formalism for the superstring closes only up to a picture-changing operation. After adding non-minimal variables and working in the "large" Hilbert space, the algebra closes without picture-changing and spacetime supersymmetry can be made manifest. The resulting non-minimal version of the RNS formalism is related by a field redefinition to the pure spinor formalism.
We study the $N=2$ string with a real structure on the $(2,2)$ spacetime, using BRST methods. Several new features emerge. In the diagonal basis, the operator $\exp(λ\int^z J^{\rm tot})$, which is associated with the moduli for the $U(1)$ gauge field on the world-sheet, is local and it relates the physical operators in the NS and R sectors. However, the picture-changing operators are non-invertible in this case, and physical operators in different pictures cannot be identified. The three-point interactions of all physical operators leads to three different types of amplitudes, which can be eff…
To study the coupling system of space-time and Fermions, we need the explicit form of the energy-momentum tensor of spinors. The energy-momentum tensor is closely related to the tetrad frames which cannot be uniquely determined by the metric. This flexibility increases difficulties to derive the exact expression and easily leads to ambiguous results. In this paper, we give a detailed derivation for the energy-momentum tensor of Weyl and Dirac spinors. From the results we find that, besides the usual kinetic energy momentum term, there are three kinds of other additional terms. One is the nonli…
We explore geometrical properties of fermionic vertex operators for a NSR superstring in order to establish connection between worldsheet and target space supersymmetries. The mechanism of picture-changing is obtained as a result of imposing certain constraints on a world-sheet gauge group of the NSR theory. It is found that picture-changing operators of various integer ghost numbers form a polynomial ring. By using properties of the picture-changing formalism we establish connection between the NSR and GS superstring theories. We explore the properties of the $κ$-symmetry in the NSR formalism…
In any type II superstring background, the supergravity vertex operators in the pure spinor formalism are described by a gauge superfield. In this paper, we obtain for the first time an explicit expression for this superfield in an $AdS_5 \times S^5$ background. Previously, the vertex operators were only known close to the boundary of $AdS_5$ or in the minus eight picture. Our strategy for the computation was to apply eight picture raising operators in the minus eight picture vertices. In the process, a huge number of terms are generated and we have developed numerical techniques to perform in…
We derive from a general formulation of pure spinor string theory on type IIA backgrounds the specific form of the action for the AdS_4 x P^3 background. We provide a complete geometrical characterization of the structure of the superfields involved in the action.
In generalized complex geometry, D-branes can be seen as maximally isotropic spaces and are thus in one-to-one correspondence with pure spinors. When considered on the sum of the tangent and cotangent bundles to the ambient space, all the branes are of the same dimension and the transverse scalars enter on par with the gauge fields; the split between the longitudinal and transverse directions is done in accordance with the type of the pure spinor corresponding to the given D-brane. We elaborate on the relation of this picture to the T-duality transformations and stability of D-branes. A discus…
A long standing problem is the supergauge completion of AdS_4 x (G/H)_7 or AdS_5 x (G/H)_5 backgrounds which preserve less then maximal supersymmetry. In parallel with the supersolvable realization of the AdS_4 x S^7 background based on Kappa-symmetry, we develop a technique which amounts to solving the above-mentioned problem in a way useful for pure spinor quantization for supermembranes and superstrings. Instead of gauge fixing some of the superspace coordinates to zero, we impose an additional constraint on them reproducing the simplifications of the supersolvable representations. The cons…
We study ten-dimensional supersymmetric vacua with NSNS non-geometric fluxes, in the framework of $β$-supergravity. We first provide expressions for the fermionic supersymmetry variations. Specifying a compactification ansatz to four dimensions, we deduce internal Killing spinor equations. These supersymmetry conditions are then reformulated in terms of pure spinors, similarly to standard supergravity vacua admitting an SU(3)xSU(3) structure in Generalized Complex Geometry. The standard d-H acting on the pure spinors is traded for a generalized Dirac operator D, depending here on the non-geome…
Geometrical pictures for the family structure of fundamental particles are developed. They indicate that there might be a relation between the family repetition structure and the number of space dimensions.
