Semiclassical Tunneling in 1+1 Dimensional String Theory

Abstract

We describe time-dependent tunneling of massless particles in 1+1 dimensional string field theory. Polchinski's description of the classical solutions in terms of the Fermi sea is used to identify the leading instanton contribution connecting the two half-lines. The field theory lagrangian is proportional to $1/g^2$, where $g$ is the string coupling constant, but the $S$-matrix for tunneling from one half-line to the other behaves as $\exp (-C/g)$. We note the constant~$C$ involves curious boundary contributions and observe that a prescription connecting the two half-lines unifies treatments of the Fermi level above and below the barrier. We also note the relation to recent work of Brustein and Ovrut.

16 pp., phyzzx macros

References in corpus (2)

• Exact S-Matrix for 2D String Theory
• Classical Scattering in $1+1$ Dimensional String Theory

Cited by in corpus (8)

• On Gauge Couplings in String Theory
• Chern-Simons-Witten Theory as a Topological Fermi Liquid
• Folds, Bosonization and non-triviality of the classical limit of 2D string theory
• The One Loop Effective Action of QED for a General Class of Electric Fields
• Effective d=2 supersymmetric Lagrangians from d=1 supermatrix models
• Instanton Effects in Matrix Models and String Effective Lagrangians
• The Strength of String Nonperturbative Effects and Strong-Weak Coupling Duality
• Tunnelling of Pulsating Strings in Deformed Minkowski Spacetime