Quantization of the Superstring with Manifest U(5) Super-Poincare Invariance

The superstring is quantized in a manner which manifestly preserves a U(5) subgroup of the (Wick-rotated) ten-dimensional super-Poincar\'e invariance. This description of the superstring contains critical N=2 worldsheet superconformal invariance and is a natural covariantization of the U(4)-invariant light-cone Green-Schwarz description.Comment: Added two comments on relation to light-cone gaug

First Massive State of the Superstring in Superspace

Using the manifestly spacetime supersymmetric description of the four-dimensional open superstring, we construct the vertex operator in superspace for the first massive state. This construction provides an N=1 D=4 superspace representation of the massive spin-2 multiplet.Comment: 7 pages late

Quantum Consistency of the Superstring in AdS_5 x S^5 Background

Using arguments based on BRST cohomology, the pure spinor formalism for the superstring in an AdS_5 x S^5 background is proven to be BRST invariant and conformally invariant at the quantum level to all orders in perturbation theory. Cohomology arguments are also used to prove the existence of an infinite set of non-local BRST-invariant charges at the quantum level.Comment: 14 pages harvmac tex, added footnotes 3-6 which give more details on the BRST cohomology argument

Twistor Origin of the Superstring

After introducing a d=10 pure spinor $\lambda^\alpha$, the Virasoro constraint $\partial x^m \partial x_m =0$ can be replaced by the twistor-like constraint $\partial x^m (\gamma_m \lambda)_\alpha=0$. Quantizing this twistor-like constraint leads to the pure spinor formalism for the superstring where the fermionic superspace variables $\theta^\alpha$ and their conjugate momenta come from the ghosts and antighosts of the twistor-like constraint.Comment: Fixed typos and added reference

Covariant Map Between Ramond-Neveu-Schwarz and Pure Spinor Formalisms for the Superstring

A covariant map between the Ramond-Neveu-Schwarz (RNS) and pure spinor formalisms for the superstring is found which transforms the RNS and pure spinor BRST operators into each other. The key ingredient is a dynamical twisting of the ten spin-half RNS fermions into five spin-one and five spin-zero fermions using bosonic pure spinors that parameterize an SO(10)/U(5) coset. The map relates massless vertex operators in the two formalisms, and gives a new description of Ramond states which does not require spin fields. An argument is proposed for relating the amplitude prescriptions in the two formalisms.Comment: Added referenc

Covariant Quantization of the Superparticle Using Pure Spinors

The ten-dimensional superparticle is covariantly quantized by constructing a BRST operator from the fermionic Green-Schwarz constraints and a bosonic pure spinor variable. This same method was recently used for covariantly quantizing the superstring, and it is hoped that the simpler case of the superparticle will be useful for those who want to study this quantization method. It is interesting that quantization of the superparticle action closely resembles quantization of the worldline action for Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 16 pages harvmac. Added footnotes 3,5,

Perturbative Super-Yang-Mills from the Topological AdS_5xS^5 Sigma Model

A topological sigma model based on the pure spinor formalism was recently proposed for the small radius limit of the AdS_5xS^5 superstring. Physical states in this model can be constructed by connecting holes on the worldsheet with Wilson lines of the worldsheet gauge field. The contribution of these states to the topological amplitude is claimed to reproduce the usual Feynman diagram expansion of gauge-invariant super-Yang-Mills correlation functions.Comment: 18 pages harvmac, added footnote to work of Polyako