Conformal field theory on a (super-)Riemann surface

A universal description of string dynamics is given in terms of the response of the world-sheet stress tensor to external sources and changes in global surface geometry. The formalism treats all string theories with equal ease, and provides a geometric picture of supersymmetric string dynamics. Part...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNuclear physics. B Vol. 281; no. 1-2; pp. 157 - 210
Main Author Martinec, Emil
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 19.01.1987
Elsevier
Subjects
Exact sciences and technology
General relativity and gravitation
Physics
Quantum gravity
Dynamics
Field theory
Conformal symmetry
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Summary:A universal description of string dynamics is given in terms of the response of the world-sheet stress tensor to external sources and changes in global surface geometry. The formalism treats all string theories with equal ease, and provides a geometric picture of supersymmetric string dynamics. Partition functions for flat spacetime backgrounds are constructed by this method and used to illustrate the factorization of the S-matrix at the boundary of moduli space. The properties of the S-matrix in the vicinity of the boundary arise naturally as consequences of conformal field theory.
ISSN:0550-3213
1873-1562
DOI:10.1016/0550-3213(87)90252-5