Open String Spectrum Research Articles

A stringy massive double copy

We derive a massive double copy construction within string theory. To this end, we use massive vectors of the open string spectrum that appear in compactifications to four dimensions and construct massive spin-2 tensors as closed string states, thereby mimicking the structure of the massless graviton. We then compute three-point amplitudes for the scattering of massless and massive spin-2 closed string states and reveal the double copy structure of the latter. With these results being finite in the string scale, we are further able to reproduce the cubic Lagrangian of ghost-free bimetric theory around flat spacetime for bulk massive spin-2 states originating in products of vectors of extended brane supersymmetry.

Pair creation of open strings between the unstable-dressed Dp-branes

In this paper, we study the open string pair production via the interaction of two parallel D[Formula: see text]-branes. The branes have been dressed by the Kalb–Ramond field, a specific [Formula: see text] gauge potential and a tachyon field of the open string spectrum. We shall apply the boundary state formalism, in the context of the bosonic string theory.

Holographic BCFT spectra from brane mergers

We use holography to study the spectra of boundary conformal field theories (BCFTs). To do so, we consider a 2-dimensional Euclidean BCFT with two circular boundaries that correspond to dynamical end-of-the-world branes in 3-dimensional gravity. Interactions between these branes inform the operator content and the energy spectrum of the dual BCFT. As a proof of concept, we first consider two highly separated branes whose only interaction is taken to be mediated by a scalar field. The holographic computation of the scalar-mediated exchange reproduces a light scalar primary and its global descendants in the closed-string channel of the dual BCFT. We then consider a gravity model with point particles. Here, the interaction of two separated branes corresponds to a heavy operator which lies below the black hole threshold. However, we may also consider branes at finite separation that “merge” non-smoothly. Such brane mergers can be used to describe unitary sub-threshold boundary-condition-changing operators in the open-string spectrum of the BCFT. We also find a new class of sub-threshold Euclidean bra-ket wormhole saddles with a factorization puzzle for closed-string amplitudes.

D-instanton induced superpotential

We use string field theory to fix the normalization of the D-instanton corrections to the superpotential involving the moduli fields of type II string theory compactified on an orientifold of a Calabi-Yau threefold in the absence of fluxes. We focus on O(1) instantons whose only zero modes are the four bosonic modes associated with translation of the instanton in non-compact directions and a pair of fermionic zero modes associated with the two supercharges broken by the instanton. We work with a generic superconformal field theory and express our answer in terms of the spectrum of open strings on the instanton. We analyse the contribution of multi-instantons of this kind to the superpotential and argue that it vanishes when background fluxes are absent.

Extracting bigravity from string theory

The origin of the graviton from string theory is well understood: it corresponds to a massless state in closed string spectra, whose low-energy effective action, as extracted from string scattering amplitudes, is that of Einstein-Hilbert. In this work, we explore the possibility of such a string-theoretic emergence of ghost-free bimetric theory, a recently proposed theory that involves two dynamical metrics, that around particular backgrounds propagates the graviton and a massive spin-2 field, which has been argued to be a viable dark matter candidate. By choosing to identify the latter with a massive spin-2 state of open string spectra, we compute tree-level three-point string scattering amplitudes that describe interactions of the massive spin-2 with itself and with the graviton. With the mass of the external legs depending on the string scale, we discover that extracting the corresponding low-energy effective actions in four spacetime dimensions is a subtle but consistent process and proceed to appropriately compare them with bimetric theory. Our findings consist in establishing that string and bimetric theory provide to lowest order the same set of two-derivative terms describing the interactions of the massive spin-2 with itself and with the graviton, albeit up to numerical coefficient discrepancies, a fact that we analyze and interpret. We conclude with a mention of future investigations.

Higgs branches of 5d rank-zero theories from geometry

We study the Higgs branches of five-dimensional mathcal{N} = 1 rank-zero theories obtained from M-theory on two classes non-toric non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds: Reid’s pagodas, and Laufer’s examples. Our approach consists in reducing to IIA with D6-branes and O6-planes, and computing the open-string spectra giving rise to hypermultiplets. Starting with the seven-dimensional worldvolume theories, we switch on T-brane backgrounds to give rise to bound states with angles. We observe that the resulting partially Higgsed 5d theories have discrete gauge groups, from which we readily deduce the geometry of the Higgs branches as orbifolds of quaternionic varieties.

Non-BPS fractional branes with Bose-Fermi cancellation in asymmetric orbifolds

We study non-BPS D-branes in the type II string vacua with chiral space-time SUSY constructed based on the asymmetric orbifolds of mathrm{K}3cong {T}^4/{mathrm{mathbb{Z}}}_2 as a succeeding work of [21]. We especially focus on the fractional D-branes that contains the contributions from the twisted sector of the {mathrm{mathbb{Z}}}_2 -orbifolding.We show that the cylinder partition functions for these fractional branes do not vanish, as in the cases of ordinary non-BPS D-branes. This aspect is in a sharp contrast with the bulk-type branes studied in [21]. We then discuss the extensions of models by including the discrete torsion depending on the spin structures, and investigate whether we obtain the vanishing self-overlaps associated to the fractional branes. The existence/absence of bose-fermi cancellations both in the closed and open string spectra as well as the massless spectra in the twisted sectors crucially depend on the discrete torsion. We find that some choices of the torsion indeed realize the vanishing self-overlaps for the fractional branes, with keeping the vanishing torus partition function intact.

Non-supersymmetric D-branes with vanishing cylinder amplitudes in asymmetric orbifolds

We study the type II string vacua with chiral space-time SUSY constructed as asymmetric orbifolds of torus and K3 compactifications. Despite the fact that all the D-branes are non-BPS in any chiral SUSY vacua, we show that the relevant non-geometric vacua of asymmetric orbifolds allow rather generally configurations of D-branes which lead to vanishing cylinder amplitudes, implying the bose-fermi cancellation at each mass level of the open string spectrum. After working on simple models of toroidal asymmetric orbifolds, we focus on the asymmetric orbifolds of T2 × ℳ, where ℳ is described by a general mathcal{N} = 4 SCFT with c = 6 defined by the Gepner construction for K3. Even when the modular invariant partition functions in the bulk remain unchanged, the spectra of such non-BPS D-branes with the bose-fermi cancellation can vary significantly according to the choice of orbifolding.

Giant gravitons and the emergence of geometric limits in β-deformations of N = 4 $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ SYM

We study a one parameter family of supersymmetric marginal deformations of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM with $U(1)^3$ symmetry, known as $\beta$-deformations, to understand their dual $AdS\times X$ geometry, where $X$ is a large classical geometry in the $g_{YM}^2N\to \infty$ limit. We argue that we can determine whether or not $X$ is geometric by studying the spectrum of open strings between giant gravitons states, as represented by operators in the field theory, as we take $N\to\infty$ in certain double scaling limits. We study the conditions under which these open strings can give rise to a large number of states with energy far below the string scale. The number-theoretic properties of $\beta$ are very important. When $\exp(i\beta)$ is a root of unity, the space $X$ is an orbifold. When $\exp(i\beta)$ close to a root of unity in a double scaling limit sense, $X$ corresponds to a finite deformation of the orbifold. Finally, if $\beta$ is irrational, sporadic light states can be present.

The spectrum of tachyons in AdS/CFT

We analyze the spectrum of open strings stretched between a D-brane and an anti-D-brane in planar AdS/CFT using various tools. We focus on open strings ending on two giant gravitons with different orientation in $AdS_5 \times S^5$ and study the spectrum of string excitations using the following approaches: open spin-chain, boundary asymptotic Bethe ansatz and boundary thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (BTBA). We find agreement between a perturbative high order diagrammatic calculation in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM and the leading finite-size boundary Luscher correction. We study the ground state energy of the system at finite coupling by deriving and numerically solving a set of BTBA equations. While the numerics give reasonable results at small coupling, they break down at finite coupling when the total energy of the string gets close to zero, possibly indicating that the state turns tachyonic. The location of the breakdown is also predicted analytically.

Refined partition functions for open superstrings with 4, 8 and 16 supercharges

We analyze the perturbative massive open string spectrum of even-dimensional superstring compactifications with four, eight and sixteen supercharges. In each of such cases, we focus on universal states that exist independently on the internal geometry and other compatification details. We analytically compute refined partition functions that count these states at each mass level. Such refined partition functions are written in a super-Poincaré covariant form, providing information on how supermultiplets transform under the little group and the R symmetry. Various asymptotic limits of the partition functions and their associated quantities, such as the leading and subleading Regge trajectories, are studied empirically and analytically. In the phenomenologically relevant case of four supercharges, the partition function can be cast into the most compact form and the asymptotic formula in the large spin limit is derived explicitly.

Y-system for Y = 0 brane in planar AdS/CFT

The spectrum of open strings with integrable Y=0 brane boundary conditions is analyzed in planar AdS/CFT. We give evidence that it can be described by the same Y-system that governs the spectrum of closed strings in AdS_5xS^5, except with different asymptotic and analytical properties. We determine the asymptotic solution of the Y-system that is consistent both with boundary asymptotic Bethe ansatz and boundary Luscher corrections.

Higher-spin interactions: four-point functions and beyond

In this work we construct an infinite class of four-point functions for massless higher-spin fields in flat space that are consistent with the gauge symmetry. In the Lagrangian picture, these reflect themselves in a peculiar non-local nature of the corresponding non-abelian higher-spin couplings implied by the Noether procedure that starts from the fourth order. We also comment on the nature of the colored spin-2 excitation present both in the open string spectrum and in the Vasiliev system, highlighting how some aspects of String Theory appear to reflect key properties of Field Theory that go beyond its low energy limit. A generalization of these results to n-point functions, fermions and mixed-symmetry fields is also addressed.

Light stringy states

We carefully study the spectrum of open strings localized at the intersections of D6-branes and identify the lowest massive 'twisted' states and their vertex operators, paying particular attention to the signs of the intersection angles. We argue that the masses of the lightest states scale as M^2 ~ \theta M^2_s and can thus be parametrically smaller than the string scale. Relying on previous analyses, we compute scattering amplitudes of massless 'twisted' open strings and study their factorization, confirming the presence of the light massive states as sub-dominant poles in one of the channels.

On modular properties of theAdS3CFT

We study modular properties of the AdS3 WZNW model. Although the Euclidean partition function is modular invariant, the characters on the Euclidean torus are ill-defined and their modular transformations are unknown. We reconsider the characters defined on the Lorentzian torus, focusing on their structure as distributions. We find a generalized S matrix, depending on the sign of the real modular parameters, which has two diagonal blocks and one off-diagonal block, mixing discrete and continuous representations, that we fully determine. We then explore the relations among the modular transformations, the fusion algebra and the boundary states. We explicitly construct Ishibashi states for the maximally symmetric D-branes and show that the generalized S matrix defines the one-point functions associated to point-like and H2 branes as well as the fusion rules of the degenerate representations of SL(2,R) appearing in the open string spectrum of the point-like D-branes, through a generalized Verlinde theorem.

String Theory and the Velo–Zwanziger problem

We examine the behavior of the leading Regge trajectory of the open bosonic string in a uniform electromagnetic background and present a consistent set of Fierz–Pauli conditions for these symmetric tensors that generalizes the Argyres–Nappi spin-2 result. These equations indicate that String Theory does bypass the Velo–Zwanziger problem, i.e. the loss of causality experienced by a massive high-spin field minimally coupled to electromagnetism. Moreover, we provide some evidence that only the first Regge trajectory can be described in isolation and show that the open-string spectrum is free of ghosts in weak constant backgrounds. Finally, we comment on the roles of the critical dimension and of the gyromagnetic ratio.

The Bethe ansatz equations for reflecting magnons

We derive the Bethe ansatz equations on the half line for particles interacting through factorized S-matrices invariant relative to the centrally extended su ( 2 | 2 ) Lie superalgebra and su ( 1 | 2 ) open boundaries. These equations may be of relevance for the study of the spectrum of open strings on AdS 5 × S 5 background attached to Y = 0 giant graviton branes. A one-dimensional spin chain Hamiltonian associated to this system is also derived.

Non-supersymmetric orientifolds of Gepner models

Starting from a previously collected set of tachyon-free closed strings, we search for N=2 minimal model orientifold spectra which contain the standard model and are free of tachyons and tadpoles at lowest order. For each class of tachyon-free closed strings – bulk supersymmetry, automorphism invariants or Klein bottle projection – we do indeed find non-supersymmetric and tachyon free chiral brane configurations that contain the standard model. However, a tadpole-cancelling hidden sector could only be found in the case of bulk supersymmetry. Although about half of the examples we have found make use of branes that break the bulk space–time supersymmetry, the resulting massless open string spectra are nevertheless supersymmetric in all cases. Dropping the requirement that the standard model be contained in the spectrum, we find chiral tachyon and tadpole-free solutions in all three cases, although in the case of bulk supersymmetry all massless spectra are supersymmetric. In the other two cases we find truly non-supersymmetric spectra, but a large fraction of them are nevertheless partly or fully supersymmetric at the massless level.

D-branes in T-fold conformal field theory

We investigate boundary dynamics of orbifold conformal field theory involving T-duality twists. Such models typically appear in contexts of non-geometric string compactifications that are called monodrofolds or T-folds in recent literature. We use the framework of boundary conformal field theory to analyse the models from a microscopic world-sheet perspective. In these backgrounds there are two kinds of D-branes that are analogous to bulk and fractional branes in standard orbifold models. The bulk D-branes in T-folds allow intuitive geometrical interpretations and are consistent with the classical analysis based on the doubled torus formalism. The fractional branes, on the other hand, are `non-geometric' at any point in the moduli space and have not been considered in the doubled torus analysis so far. We compute cylinder amplitudes between the bulk and fractional branes, and find that the lightest modes of the open string spectra show intriguing non-linear dependence on the moduli (location of the brane or value of the Wilson line), suggesting that the physics of T-folds, when D-branes are involved, could deviate from geometric backgrounds even at low energies. We also extend our analysis to the models with SU(2) WZW fibre at arbitrary levels.

Boundary states, matrix factorisations and correlation functions for the E-models

The open string spectra of the B-type D-branes of the N=2 E-models are calculated. Using these results we match the boundary states to the matrix factorisations of the corresponding Landau-Ginzburg models. The identification allows us to calculate specific terms in the effective brane superpotential of E_6 using conformal field theory methods, thereby enabling us to test results recently obtained in this context.