The spectrum of strings on BTZ black holes and spectral flow in the SL(2, R) WZW model

Abstract

We study the spectrum of bosonic string theory on rotating BTZ black holes, using a SL(2, R) WZW model. Previously, Natsuume and Satoh have analyzed strings on BTZ black holes using orbifold techniques. We show how an appropriate spectral flow in the WZW model can be used to generated the twisted sectors, emphasizing how the spectral flow works in the hyperbolic basis natural for the BTZ black hole. We discuss the projection condition which leads to the quantization condition for the allowed quantum numbers for the string excitations, and its connection to the anomaly in the corresponding conserved Noether current.