Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1407.4699

Background Independent String Field Theory

Itzhak Bars·Dmitry Rychkov
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We develop a new background independent Moyal star formalism in bosonic open string field theory. The new star product is formulated in a half-phase-space, and because phase space is independent of any background fields, the interactions are background independent. In this basis there is a large amount of symmetry, including a supersymmetry OSp(d|2) that acts on matter and ghost degrees of freedom, and simplifies computations. The BRST operator that defines the quadratic kinetic term of string field theory may be regarded as the solution of the equation of motion A*A=0 of a purely cubic background independent string field theory. We find an infinite number of non-perturbative solutions to this equation, and are able to associate them to the BRST operator of conformal field theories on the worldsheet. Thus, the background emerges from a spontaneous-type breaking of a purely cubic highly symmetric theory. The form of the BRST field breaks the symmetry in a tractable way such that the symmetry continues to be useful in practical perturbative computations as an expansion around some background. The new Moyal basis is called the $\sigma $-basis, where $\sigma$ is the worldsheet parameter of an open string. A vital part of the new star product is a natural and crucially needed mid-point regulator in this continuous basis, so that all computations are finite. The regulator is removed after renormalization and then the theory is finite only in the critical dimension. Boundary conditions for D-branes at the endpoints of the string are naturally introduced and made part of the theory as simple rules in algebraic computations. A byproduct of our approach is an astonishing suggestion of the formalism: the roots of ordinary quantum mechanics may originate in the rules of non-commutative interactions in string theory.

Explore related subjects

hep-thmath-phmath.MPquant-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Itzhak Bars, Dmitry Rychkov. 2014-07-17. Background Independent String Field Theory. https://arxiv.org/abs/1407.4699

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Timelike Entanglement from Spacetime Density Matrices: A Lattice Realization

We investigate timelike entanglement in quantum field theory using spacetime density matrices and provide a microscopic lattice realization. For a two-dimensional free real scalar field, we extend Gaussian diagonalization methods to the generally non-Hermitian reduced spacetime density matrix and determine its complete nonzero spectrum in the generic regular case, together with all integer R\'enyi moments. The real-time replica construction identifies these moments with Lorentzian branch-point twist-operator correlation functions. We test this identification against the full four-point function on a circle, boundary two-point functions with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, and massive form-factor predictions, finding quantitative agreement in both magnitude and phase across distinct causal regimes. The boundary setup exhibits a finite causally connected window in which every integer R\'enyi entropy is real, showing that reality is not equivalent to causal disconnection. These results provide a microscopic lattice foundation for timelike entanglement and for Lorentzian twist-operator methods beyond equal-time regions.

hep-th↗
arXiv2026

Landau-Ginzburg description of an exceptional ${\mathcal N}=1$ minimal model

The $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal model with $m=12$ and the exceptional modular invariant $(E_6,D_8)$ is the unitary minimal model of the super-$W_3$ algebra. We propose its Landau-Ginzburg description using two real scalar superfields with the cubic superpotential ${\cal W}=g_1 XY^2/2 + g_2X^3/6$. For $g_1=g_2$, this superpotential is known to describe a product of two $m=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal models, which is the $m=10$ model with the $(D_6,E_6)$ modular invariant. The exceptional $m=12$ superconformal minimal model is realized at a different fixed point of the same theory. Testing this Landau-Ginzburg description requires the fusion ring of the minimal model, which we obtain from the modular data of the extended algebra. The fusion ring has a $\mathbb Z_2$ grading by chiral fermion parity that the ordinary fusion coefficients do not determine. This grading, composed with conjugation, gives the generator of the R-parity $\mathbb Z_2^{R}$ of the Landau-Ginzburg theory. We then treat the theory with superpotential $\cal W$ as a Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model in $d=4-\epsilon$ and find a weakly coupled infrared fixed point with $g_1/g_2=3/2+\mathcal O(\epsilon)$, at which supersymmetry emerges. We also describe the renormalization group flow from this fixed point to the decoupled fixed point with $g_1=g_2$. The operator dimensions at the coupled fixed point, continued to $d=2$, agree approximately with their values in the $m=12$ superconformal minimal model. Finally, we estimate the scaling dimensions in the new interacting $d=3$ $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal field theory.

hep-th↗
arXiv2026

Detecting one-dimensional bosonic SPT phases via twisted entropic order parameter

Entanglement asymmetry, introduced by F. Ares, S. Murciano and P. Calabrese, provides a density-matrix diagnostic of symmetry breaking and successfully captures the Landau data associated with a broken symmetry pattern. However, it is by now well established that gapped quantum many-body systems can exhibit phases which are not characterized solely by Landau symmetry breaking. A fundamental example is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, and the ordinary definition of entanglement asymmetry is insensitive to this topological information. In this work we introduce a refined quantity, which we call the twisted entropic order parameter, designed to detect SPT phases from reduced density matrices, particularly focusing on one-dimensional bosonic systems. The key ingredient in our construction is an ancilla degrees of freedom that coherently records the untwisted state and the twisted state associated to a one-ended topological defect of unbroken symmetry, so that the enlarged density matrix retains the charge carried by the defect endpoint. We demonstrate our proposal in concrete lattice models and further generalize it beyond ordinary group symmetries, establishing its ability to diagnose SPT phases. This provides a first step toward a unified entanglement-asymmetry framework for diagnosing quantum phases of matter.

hep-th↗