On non-homogeneous tachyon condensation in closed string theory

Abstract

Lorentzian continuation of the Sine-Liouville model describes non-homogeneous rolling closed string tachyon. Via T-duality, this relates to the gauged H+3 Wess-Zumino-Witten model at subcritical level. This model is exactly solvable. We give a closed formula for the 3-point correlation functions for the model at level k within the range 0 < k < 2, which relates to the analogous quantity for k > 2 in a similar way as how the Harlow-Maltz-Witten 3-point function of timelike Liouville field theory relates to the analytic continuation of the Dorn-Otto-Zamolodchikov-Zamolodchikov structure constants: we find that the ratio between both 3-point functions can be written in terms of quotients of Jacobi’s θ-functions, while their product exhibits remarkable cancellations and eventually factorizes. Our formula is consistent with previous proposals made in the literature.