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U.S. Department of Energy
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Topics in string theory

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5177329

The author discusses several aspects of string theory. First, he calculates the vacuum amplitude of un-oriented open and closed string theory using Polyakov formalism. He argues that the volume of the Mobius Group should be renormalized, and solve a minor paradox. Second, he gives an example of a membrane whose effective action is the generalization of Green-Schwarz covariant superstring action. As a by-product, he shows that is also provides an example of partially broken global supersymmetry. The rest of the dissertation is devoted to the study of string field theory in terms of the renormalization group approach. He emphasizes the pivotal role of the conformal invariance in string theory. He proposes the generalized Wilsonian conformal renormalization group equation of 2-dimensional quantum field theory as the field equation for string field theory following Banks and Martinec. He then finds general solutions to the linearized equation on the flat back-ground and its correspondence to all the physical vertex operators. He also makes detailed study of massless modes and offer some remarks about how gauge invariance arise in this approach. Finally, he solves the full nonlinear equation iteratively in terms of the solutions to the linearized equation and extract the Virasoro-Shapiro amplitudes from them.

Research Organization:
Texas Univ., Austin, TX (USA)
OSTI ID:
5177329
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English