Closed string deformations in open string field theory. Part I. Bosonic string

This is the first of a series of three papers on open string field theories based on Witten star product deformed with a gauge invariant open/closed coupling. This de- formation is a tree-level tadpole which destabilizes the initial perturbative vacuum. We discuss the existence of vacuum-shift solutions which cancel the tadpole and represent a new configuration where the initial D-brane system has adapted to the change in the closed string background. As an example we consider the bulk deformation which changes the compactification radius and, to first order in the deformation, we reproduce the shift in the mass of the open string KK modes from the new kinetic operator after the vacuum shift. We also discuss the possibility of taming closed string degenerations with the open string propagator in the simplest amplitude corresponding to two closed strings off a disk.

Superstring Backgrounds in String Geometry

String geometry theory is a candidate of the nonperturbative formulation of string theory. In order to determine the string vacuum, we need to clarify how superstring backgrounds are described in string geometry theory. In this paper, we show that all the type IIA, IIB, SO(32) type I, and SO(32) and E 8 × E 8 heterotic superstring backgrounds are embedded in configurations of the fields of a single string geometry model. In particular, we show that the configurations satisfy the equations of motion of the string geometry model in α ′ ⟶ 0 if and only if the embedded string backgrounds satisfy the equations of motion of the supergravities, respectively. This means that classical dynamics of the string backgrounds are described as a part of classical dynamics in string geometry theory. Furthermore, we define an energy of the configurations in the string geometry model because they do not depend on the string geometry time. A string background can be determined by minimizing the energy.

Conformal bridge in a cosmic string background

Hidden symmetries of non-relativistic $$ \mathfrak{so}\left(2,1\right)\cong \mathfrak{sl}\left(2,\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}\right) $$ so 2 1 ≅ sl 2 ℝ invariant systems in a cosmic string background are studied using the conformal bridge transformation. Geometric properties of this background are analogous to those of a conical surface with a deficiency/excess angle encoded in the “geometrical parameter” α, determined by the linear positive/negative mass density of the string. The free particle and the harmonic oscillator on this background are shown to be related by the conformal bridge transformation. To identify the integrals of the free system, we employ a local canonical transformation that relates the model with its planar version. The conformal bridge transformation is then used to map the obtained integrals to those of the harmonic oscillator on the cone. Well-defined classical integrals in both models exist only at α = q/k with q, k = 1, 2, . . ., which for q > 1 are higher-order generators of finite nonlinear algebras. The systems are quantized for arbitrary values of α; however, the well-defined hidden symmetry operators associated with spectral degeneracies only exist when α is an integer, that reveals a quantum anomaly.

Nonrelativistic open string and Yang-Mills theory

The classical and quantum worldsheet theory describing nonrelativistic open string theory in an arbitrary nonrelativistic open and closed string background is constructed. We show that the low energy dynamics of open strings ending on n coincident D-branes in flat spacetime is described by a Galilean invariant U(n) Yang-Mills theory. We also study nonrelativistic open string excitations with winding number and demonstrate that their dynamics can be encoded into a local gauge theory in one higher dimension. By demanding conformal invariance of the boundary couplings, the nonlinear equations of motion that govern the consistent open string backgrounds coupled to an arbitrary closed background (described by a string Newton-Cartan geometry, Kalb-Ramond, and dilaton field) are derived and shown to emerge from a Galilean invariant Dirac-Born-Infeld type action.

T-duality in nonrelativistic open string theory

Nonrelativistic open string theory is defined by a worldsheet theory that produces a Galilean invariant string spectrum and is described at low energies by a nonrelativistic Yang-Mills theory [1]. We study T-duality transformations in the path integral for the sigma model that describes nonrelativistic open string theory coupled to an arbitrary closed string background, described by a string Newton-Cartan geometry, Kalb-Ramond, and dilaton field. We prove that T-duality transformations map nonrelativistic open string theory to relativistic and noncommutative open string theory in the discrete light cone quantization (DLCQ), a quantization scheme relevant for Matrix string theory. We also show how the worldvolume dynamics of nonrelativistic open string theory described by the Dirac-Born-Infeld type action found in [1] maps to the Dirac-Born-Infeld actions describing the worldvolume theories of the DLCQ of open string theory and noncommutative open string theory.

Classical algebraic structures in string theory effective actions

We study generic properties of string theory effective actions obtained by classically integrating out massive excitations from string field theories based on cyclic homotopy algebras of A∞ or L∞ type. We construct observables in the UV theory and we discuss their fate after integration-out. Furthermore, we discuss how to compose two subsequent integrations of degrees of freedom (horizontal composition) and how to integrate out degrees of freedom after deforming the UV theory with a new consistent interaction (vertical decomposition). We then apply our general results to the open bosonic string using Witten’s open string field theory. There we show how the horizontal composition can be used to systematically integrate out the Nakanishi-Lautrup field from the set of massless excitations, ending with a non-abelian A∞-gauge theory for just the open string gluon. Moreover we show how the vertical decomposition can be used to construct effective open-closed couplings by deforming Witten OSFT with a tadpole given by the Ellwood invariant. Also, we discuss how the effective theory controls the possibility of removing the tadpole in the microscopic theory, giving a new framework for studying D-brane deformations induced by changes in the closed string background.

String backgrounds in string geometry

String geometry theory is a candidate of the nonperturbative formulation of string theory. In order to determine the string vacuum, we need to clarify how string backgrounds are described in string geometry theory. In this paper, we show that the string backgrounds are embedded in configurations of the fields of a string geometry model. Especially, we show that the configurations satisfy the equations of motion of the string geometry model if and only if the embedded string backgrounds satisfy their equations of motion. This means that classical dynamics of the string backgrounds are described as a part of classical dynamics in string geometry theory. Furthermore, we define an energy of the configurations in the string geometry model because they do not depend on the string geometry time. A string background can be determined by minimizing the energy.