Parafermions, $W$ Strings and their BRST Charges

Abstract

We show how to relate the parafermions that occur in the $W_3$ string to the standard construction of parafermions. This result is then used to show that one of the screening charges that occurs in parafermionic theories is precisely the non-trivial part of the $W_3$ string BRST charge. A way of generalizing this pattern for a $W_N$ string is explained. This enables us to construct the full BRST charge for a $W_{2,N}$ string and to prove the relation of such a string to the algebra $W_{N-1}$ for arbitrary $N$, We also show how to calculate part of the BRST charge for a $W_N$ string, and we explain how our method might be extended to obtain the full BRST charge for such a string.

12 pages, KCL-TH-93-14. (Minor corrections to equation 19 and reference 9)

References in corpus (9)

• On the Spectrum and Scattering of W_3 Strings
• Discrete States in the $W_3$ String
• Explicit Construction of the BRST Charge for W_4
• A BRST Analysis of $W$-symmetries
• On the BRST Operator of $W$-Strings
• The covariant scattering and cohomology of $W_3$ strings
• A Review of $W$ Strings
• Higher-spin strings and W minimal models
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Cited by in corpus (3)

• A W-String Realization of the Bosonic String
• $W$ Strings and Cohomology in Parafermionic Theories
• BRST Operators for Higher-spin Algebras