Universal aspects of string propagation on curved backgrounds

String propagation on D-dimensional curved backgrounds with Lorentzian signature is formulated as a geometrical problem of embedding surfaces. When the spatial part of the background corresponds to a general WZW model for a compact group, the classical dynamics of the physical degrees of freedom is governed by the coset conformal field theory SO(D-1)/SO(D-2), which is universal irrespective of the particular WZW model. The same holds for string propagation on D-dimensional flat space. The integration of the corresponding Gauss-Codazzi equations requires the introduction of (non-Abelian) parafermions in differential geometry.Comment: 15 pages, latex. Typo in Eq. (2.12) is corrected. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Normalization of Off-shell Boundary State, g-function and Zeta Function Regularization

We consider the model in two dimensions with boundary quadratic deformation (BQD), which has been discussed in tachyon condensation. The partition function of this model (BQD) on a cylinder is determined, using the method of zeta function regularization. We show that, for closed channel partition function, a subtraction procedure must be introduced in order to reproduce the correct results at conformal points. The boundary entropy (g-function) is determined from the partition function and the off-shell boundary state. We propose and consider a supersymmetric generalization of BQD model, which includes a boundary fermion mass term, and check the validity of the subtraction procedure.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, comments and 3 new references adde

From Free Fields to AdS -- II

We continue with the program of hep-th/0308184 to implement open-closed string duality on free gauge field theory (in the large $N$ limit). In this paper we consider correlators such as \la \prod_{i=1}^n \Tr\Phi^{J_i}(x_i)\ra. The Schwinger parametrisation of this $n$-point function exhibits a partial gluing up into a set of basic skeleton graphs. We argue that the moduli space of the planar skeleton graphs is exactly the same as the moduli space of genus zero Riemann surfaces with $n$ holes. In other words, we can explicitly rewrite the $n$-point (planar) free field correlator as an integral over the moduli space of a sphere with $n$ holes. A preliminary study of the integrand also indicates compatibility with a string theory on $AdS$. The details of our argument are quite insensitive to the specific form of the operators and generalise to diagrams of higher genus as well. We take this as evidence of the field theory's ability to reorganise itself into a string theory.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures; v2. some additional comments, references adde

The Dirac-Nambu-Goto p-Branes as Particular Solutions to a Generalized, Unconstrained Theory

The theory of the usual, constrained p-branes is embedded into a larger theory in which there is no constraints. In the latter theory the Fock-Schwinger proper time formalism is extended from point-particles to membranes of arbitrary dimension. For this purpose the tensor calculus in the infinite dimensional membrane space M is developed and an action which is covariant under reparametrizations in M is proposed. The canonical and Hamiltonian formalism is elaborated in detail. The quantization appears to be straightforward and elegant. No problem with unitarity arises. The conventional p-brane states are particular stationary solutions to the functional Schroedinger equation which describes the evolution of a membrane's state with respect to the invariant evolution parameter tau. A tau-dependent solution which corresponds to the wave packet of a null p-brane is found. It is also shown that states of a lower dimensional membrane can be considered as particular states of a higher dimensional membrane.Comment: 28 page

Fermion Condensates of massless QED2QED_2 at Finite Density in non-trivial Topological Sectors

Vacuum expectation values of products of local bilinears $\bar\psi\psi$ are computed in massless $QED_2$ at finite density. It is shown that chiral condensates exhibit an oscillatory inhomogeneous behaviour depending on the chemical potential. The use of a path-integral approach clarifies the connection of this phenomenon with the topological structure of the theory.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, To be published in Phys.Rev.

Sigma model approach to string theory effective actions with tachyons

Motivated by recent discussions of actions for tachyon and vector fields related to tachyon condensation in open string theory we review and clarify some aspects of their derivation within sigma model approach. In particular, we demonstrate that the renormalized partition function $Z(T,A)$ of boundary sigma model gives the effective action for massless vectors which is consistent with string S-matrix and beta function, resolving an old problem with this suggestion in bosonic string case at the level of the leading $F^2 (dF)^2$ derivative corrections to Born-Infeld action. We give manifestly gauge invariant definition of $Z(T,A)$ in non-abelian NSR open string theory and check that its derivative reproduces the tachyon beta function in a particular scheme. We also discuss derivation of similar actions for tachyon and massless modes in closed bosonic and NSR (type 0) string theories.Comment: 26 pages, harvmac. To appear in the special issue of J. Math. Phys. on Strings, Branes and M-theory. v4: minor editorial changes, version to appear in JM

The two-boundary sine-Gordon model

We study in this paper the ground state energy of a free bosonic theory on a finite interval of length $R$ with either a pair of sine-Gordon type or a pair of Kondo type interactions at each boundary. This problem has potential applications in condensed matter (current through superconductor-Luttinger liquid-superconductor junctions) as well as in open string theory (tachyon condensation). While the application of Bethe ansatz techniques to this problem is in principle well known, considerable technical difficulties are encountered. These difficulties arise mainly from the way the bare couplings are encoded in the reflection matrices, and require complex analytic continuations, which we carry out in detail in a few cases.Comment: 34 pages (revtex), 8 figure

Time Evolution via S-branes

Using S(pacelike)-branes defined through rolling tachyon solutions, we show how the dynamical formation of D(irichlet)-branes and strings in tachyon condensation can be understood. Specifically we present solutions of S-brane actions illustrating the classical confinement of electric and magnetic flux into fundamental strings and D-branes. The role of S-branes in string theory is further clarified and their RR charges are discussed. In addition, by examining ``boosted'' S-branes, we find what appears to be a surprising dual S-brane description of strings and D-branes, which also indicates that the critical electric field can be considered as a self-dual point in string theory. We also introduce new tachyonic S-branes as Euclidean counterparts to non-BPS branes.Comment: 62 pages, 10 figures. v2 references adde

Multiflavor Correlation Functions in non-Abelian Gauge Theories at Finite Density in two dimensions

We compute vacuum expectation values of products of fermion bilinears for two-dimensional Quantum Chromodynamics at finite flavored fermion densities. We introduce the chemical potential as an external charge distribution within the path-integral approach and carefully analyse the contribution of different topological sectors to fermion correlators. We show the existence of chiral condensates exhibiting an oscillatory inhomogeneous behavior as a function of a chemical potential matrix. This result is exact and goes in the same direction as the behavior found in QCD_4 within the large N approximation.Comment: 28 pages Latex (3 pages added and other minor changes) to appear in Phys.Rev.

Quark Matter and Nuclear Collisions: A Brief History of Strong Interaction Thermodynamics

The past fifty years have seen the emergence of a new field of research in physics, the study of matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The theory of strong interactions, quantum chromodynamics (QCD), predicts that in this limit, matter will become a plasma of deconfined quarks and gluons -- the medium which made up the early universe in the first 10 microseconds after the big bang. High energy nuclear collisions are expected to produce short-lived bubbles of such a medium in the laboratory. I survey the merger of statistical QCD and nuclear collision studies for the analysis of strongly interacting matter in theory and experiment.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures Opening Talk at the 5th Berkeley School on Collective Dynamics in High Energy Collisions, LBNL Berkeley/California, May 14 - 18, 201