String propagators in time-dependent and time-independent homogeneous plane waves

Abstract

For a special time-dependent homogeneous plane wave background that includes a null singularity we construct the closed string propagators. We carry out the summation over the oscillator modes and extract the worldsheet spacetime structures of string propagators specially near the singularity. We construct the closed string propagators in a time-independent smooth homogeneous plane wave background characterized by the constant dilaton, the constant null NS-NS field strength and the constant magnetic field. By expressing them in terms of the hypergeometric function we reveal the background field dependences and the worldsheet spacetime structures of string propagators. The conformal invariance condition for the constant dilaton plays a role to simplify the expressions of string propagators.