Canonical quantization of open string and noncommutative geometry

Abstract

We perform canonical quantization of open strings in the $D$-brane background with a $B$-field. Treating the mixed boundary condition as a primary constraint, we get a set of secondary constraints. Then these constraints are shown to be equivalent to orbifold conditions to be imposed on normal string modes. These orbifold conditions are a generalization of the familiar orbifold conditions which arise when we describe open strings in terms of closed strings. Solving the constraints explicitly, we obtain a simple Hamiltonian for the open string, which reveals the nature of noncommutativity transparently.