10D super-Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes from its pure spinor action

Using the pure spinor master action for 10D super-Yang-Mills in the gauge b0V = QΞ, tree-level scattering amplitudes are calculated through the perturbiner method, and shown to match those obtained from pure spinor CFT techniques. We find kinematic numerators made of nested b-ghost operators, and show that the Siegel gauge condition b0V = 0 gives rise to color-kinematics duality satisfying numerators whose Jacobi identity follows from the Jacobi identity of a kinematic algebra.

Pin(d, d) covariance of pure spinor equations for supersymmetric vacua and non-Abelian T-duality

In a supersymmetric compactification of Type II supergravity, preservation of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 supersymmetry in four dimensions requires that the structure group of the generalized tangent bundle TM ⨁ T∗M of the six dimensional internal manifold M is reduced from SO(6) to SU(3) × SU(3). This topological condition on the internal manifold implies existence of two globally defined compatible pure spinors Φ1 and Φ2 of non-vanishing norm. Furthermore, these pure spinors should satisfy certain first order differential equations. In this paper, we show that non-Abelian T-duality (NATD) is a solution generating transformation for these pure spinor equations. We first show that the pure spinor equations are covariant under Pin(d, d) transformations. Then, we use the fact NATD is generated by a coordinate dependent Pin(d, d) transformation. The key point is that the flux produced by this transformation is the same as the geometric flux associated with the isometry group, with respect to which one implements NATD. We demonstrate our method by studying NATD of certain solutions of Type IIB supergravity with SU(2) isometry and SU(3) structure.

Green-Schwarz and pure spinor formulations of chiral strings

Bosonic and RNS chiral strings have been defined from a singular gauge fixing of the respective Polyakov and spinning string actions, enforcing, among other things, the finite nature of their physical spectra. Except for the heterotic case, the tensionless limits of such chiral models have been shown to describe the same field theories predicted by their ambitwistor analogues. In this paper, we study the Green-Schwarz formulation for Type II and heterotic superstrings in a singular gauge. After performing a light-cone gauge analysis, their physical spectra are shown to match those of RNS chiral strings, and their respective tensionless limits are found to describe the same field theories predicted by RNS ambitwistor strings. Their pure spinor counterparts are then introduced by making use of the Oda-Tonin method. In doing so, symmetries hidden in the pure spinor ambitwistor string action become manifest, proposals motivating the sectorized pure spinor BRST charges find simple grounds, and integrated vertex operators emerge naturally.

Normal form of nilpotent vector field near the tip of the pure spinor cone

Pure spinor formalism implies that supergravity equations in space-time are equivalent to the requirement that the worldsheet sigma-model satisfies certain properties. Here we point out that one of these properties has a particularly transparent geometrical interpretation. Namely, there exists an odd nilpotent vector field on some singular supermanifold, naturally associated to space-time. Is it true that all supergravity fields are encoded in this vector field, as coefficients in its normal form, and the nilpotence is equivalent to the target space equations of motion? We show that this is approximately correct. The normal form is parametrized by some tensor fields, which satisfy hyperbolic equations. These equations are slightly weaker than the full supergravity equations.

AdS 5 × S5 supergravity vertex operators

In any type II superstring background, the supergravity vertex operators in the pure spinor formalism are described by a gauge superfield. In this paper, we obtain for the first time an explicit expression for this superfield in an AdS5 × S5 background. Previously, the vertex operators were only known close to the boundary of AdS5 or in the minus eight picture. Our strategy for the computation was to apply eight picture raising operators in the minus eight picture vertices. In the process, a huge number of terms are generated and we have developed numerical techniques to perform intermediary simplifications. Alternatively, the same numerical techniques can be used to compute the vertices directly in the zero picture by constructing a basis of invariants and fitting for the coefficients. One motivation for constructing the vertex operators is the computation of AdS5 × S5 string amplitudes.

Relating the b ghost and the vertex operators of the pure spinor superstring

The OPE between the composite b ghost and the unintegrated vertex operator for massless states of the pure spinor superstring is computed and shown to reproduce the structure of the bosonic string result. The double pole vanishes in the Lorenz gauge and the single pole is shown to be equal to the corresponding integrated vertex operator.

Superspace formulation of exotic supergravities in six dimensions

We provide a linearised superfield description of the exotic non-metric N = (4, 0) supergravity in D = 6, by using a pure spinor superfield formalism. The basic field Ψ is a ghost number 2 scalar, transforming in the same R-symmetry module as the tensor fields. Partial results for the N = (1, 3) model are presented.

Closed string disk amplitudes in the pure spinor formalism

We evaluate closed string disk amplitudes in the pure spinor formalism. We focus on low point functions (two- and one-point functions) but our analysis is also relevant for higher n-point functions. Amongst others we discuss issues arising due to the gauge fixing of the conformal Killing group of the disk and due to the zero mode prescription in the pure spinor formalism. As expected, in the end we find agreement with the known results from the RNS formalism.

Breaking supersymmetry with pure spinors

For several classes of BPS vacua, we find a procedure to modify the PDEs that imply preserved supersymmetry and the equations of motion so that they still imply the latter but not the former. In each case we trace back this supersymmetry-breaking deformation to a distinct modification of the pure spinor equations that provide a geometrical interpretation of supersymmetry. We give some concrete examples: first we generalize the Imamura class of Mink6 solutions by removing a symmetry requirement, and then derive some local and global solutions both before and after breaking supersymmetry.

Geometrical framework for picture changing operators in the pure spinor formalism

It is well known in NSR string theory, that vertex operators can be constructed in various “pictures”. Recently this was discussed in the context of pure spinor formalism. NSR picture changing operators have an elegant super-geometrical interpretation. In this paper we provide a generalization of this super-geometrical construction, which is also applicable to the pure spinor formalism.