Strings in curved space-time: Virasoro algebra in the classical and quantum theory

Journal Article · Sun Mar 15 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Phys. Rev. D; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.35.1917· OSTI ID:6005089

Akhoury, R; Okada, Y

We investigate the theory of a closed bosonic string propagating in a background consisting of a condensate of its massless modes. At the classical level, the Virasoro operators and the Hamiltonian are identified and their Poisson-brackets algebra verified. The massless-mode vertex operators for a string in background fields are constructed from the requirement that they have the appropriate Poisson brackets with the Virasoro operators. In the quantum theory, a weak-field expansion of the Virasoro operators is used. The commutators of the Virasoro operators are explicitly evaluated to first order in the weak-field expansion using the Bjorken-Johnson-Low procedure. The equations of motion to first order in weak fields are seen to follow from the requirement of the closure of the Virasoro algebra on the two-dimensional world sheet.

• Research Organization: Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120
• OSTI ID: 6005089
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. D; (United States) Vol. 35:6; ISSN PRVDA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

645400* -- High Energy Physics-- Field Theory
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BOSONS
COMPOSITE MODELS
EXTENDED PARTICLE MODEL
FIELD THEORIES
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METRICS
PARTICLE MODELS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUARK MODEL
SPACE-TIME
STRING MODELS