Construction of BRST invariant states in G/HG/H WZNW models.

We study the cohomology arising in the BRST formulation of G/H gauged WZNW models, i.e. in which the states of the gauged theory are projected out from the ungauged one by means of a BRST condition. We will derive for a general simple group $H$ with arbitrary level, conditions for which the cohomology is non-trivial. We show, by introducing a small perturbation due to Jantzen, in the highest weights of the representations, how states in the cohomology, "singlet pairs", arise from unphysical states, "Kugo-Ojima quartets", as the perturbation is set to zero. This will enable us to identify and construct states in the cohomology. The ghost numbers that will occur are $\pm p$, with $p$ uniquely determined by the representations of the algebras involved. Our construction is given in terms of the current modes and relies on the explicit form of highest weight null-states given by Malikov, Feigen and Fuchs.Comment: 12 pages, late

The Canonical Structure of Wess-Zumino-Witten Models

The phase space of the Wess-Zumino-Witten model on a circle with target space a compact, connected, semisimple Lie group $G$ is defined and the corresponding symplectic form is given. We present a careful derivation of the Poisson brackets of the Wess-Zumino-Witten model. We also study the canonical structure of the supersymmetric and the gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten models.Comment: 16pp (revised version - two new sections added and relation with other recent work discussed

Exact Bosonic and Supersymmetric String Black Hole Solutions

We show that Witten's two-dimensional string black hole metric is exactly conformally invariant in the supersymmetric case. We also demonstrate that this metric, together with a recently proposed exact metric for the bosonic case, are respectively consistent with the supersymmetric and bosonic $\sigma$-model conformal invariance conditions up to four-loop order.Comment: 14

The BRST formulation of G/H WZNW models

We consider a BRST approach to G/H coset WZNW models, {\it i.e.} a formulation in which the coset is defined by a BRST condition. We will give the precise ingrediences needed for this formulation. Then we will prove the equivalence of this approach to the conventional coset formulation by solving the the BRST cohomology. This will reveal a remarkable connection between integrable representations and a class of non-integrable representations for negative levels. The latter representations are also connected to string theories based on non-compact WZNW models. The partition functions of G/H cosets are also considered. The BRST approach enables a covariant construction of these, which does not rely on the decomposition of G as $G/H\times H$. We show that for the well-studied examples of $SU(2)_k \times SU(2)_1/SU(2)_{k+1}$ and $SU(2)_k/U(1)$, we exactly reproduce the previously known results.Comment: 23 pages latex file. G\"oteborg ITP 93-01 ( Not encoded version