THE BACKGROUND FIELD METHOD AND THE ANOMALIES OF THE HETEROTIC σ-MODEL IN A CURVED (1, 0) SUPERSPACE

Abstract

The covariant (in the σ-model sense) background field method for calculating the anomalies of the heterotic string propagating on the background of its massless modes is developed in a curved superspace of the two-dimensional (1, 0) supergravity. As the massless background fields, we use a metric, an antisymmetric tensor, a dilaton and gauge bosons. Explicit calculation of the anomalies up to five loops is performed and the results are found to be in agreement with the known facts about the heterotic string low-energy effective action. The dilaton-dependent corrections to the anomalies at the two- and three-loop levels are shown to be absent.