Light-Cone Gauge Quantization of 2D Sigma Models

Abstract

This work describes the formulation of the manifestly ghost-free (spacetime) light-cone gauge for bosonic string theory with non-trivial spacetime metric, antisymmetric tensor, dilaton and tachyon fields. The action is a general two-dimensional sigma model, corresponding to a closed string theory with a second order action in the Polyakov picture. The spacetime fields must have a symmetry generated by a null, covariantly constant spacetime vector in order for the light-cone gauge to be accessible. Also, the theory must be Weyl invariant. The conditions for Weyl invariance are computed within the light-cone gauge, reproducing the usual beta functions. The calculation of the dilaton beta function and the critical dimension is somewhat novel in this ghost-free theory. Some exactly solvable light-cone theories are discussed.

34 pages, 1 figure, PUPT-1338, RU-94-21

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Cited by in corpus (16)

• Quantum Chromodynamics and Other Field Theories on the Light Cone
• Light-cone Superstring in AdS Space-time
• Simplifying superstring action on AdS_5 x S^5
• Superstring action in AdS_5 x S^5: kappa symmetry light cone gauge
• Fermi Coordinates and Penrose Limits
• The algebra of flat currents for the string on AdS_5 x S^5 in the light-cone gauge
• Superstrings in AdS
• Giant Magnon in NS5-brane Background
• The Nappi-Witten string in the light-cone gauge
• Superstrings in AdS in light cone gauge
• String backgrounds and LCFT
• Tachyon Condensation and Non-BPS D-branes in a Ramond-Ramond Plane Wave Background
• Penrose Limits vs String Expansions
• Covariant BRST Quantization of Closed Strings in the PP-Wave Background
• The exact description of NS5-branes in the Penrose limit
• Integrable hydrodynamic equations for initial chiral currents and infinite hydrodynamic chains from WZNW model and string model of WZNW type with $SU(2),$ $SO(3),$ $SP(2),$ $SU(\infty )$, $SO(\infty )$, $SP(\infty )$ constant torsions