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.

Notes on the 11D pure spinor wordline vertex operators

The construction of the ghost number zero and one vertex operators for the 11D pure spinor superparticle will be revisited. In this sense, an alternative way of defining the ghost number one vertex operator will be given after introducing a ghost number -2 operator made out of physical operators defined on the 11D non-minimal pure spinor superspace. This procedure will make explicit and transparent the relation between the ghost number three and one vertex operators. In addition, using a non-Lorentz covariant b-ghost, ghost number zero and two vertex operators satisfying standard descent equations will be presented in full form.

On the Christensen–Wang bounds for the ghost number of a p-group algebra

Christensen and Wang give conjectural upper and lower bounds for the ghost number of the group algebra of a

CONFORMAL MODULI AND b-c PICTURES FOR NSR STRINGS

We explore the geometry of superconformal moduli of the NSR superstring theory in order to construct the consistent sigma-model for NSR strings, free of picture-changing complications. The sigma-model generating functional is constructed by the integration over the bosonic and fermionic moduli, corresponding to insertions of the vertex operators in scattering amplitudes. While the integration over the supermoduli leads to the standard picture-changing insertions, the integration over the bosonic moduli results in the appearance of picture-changing operators for the b-c fermionic ghosts with the ghost number -1. Important example of the b-c ghost pictures involves the vertex operators in integrated and unintegrated forms. We obtain the BRST-invariant expressions for the b-c picture-changing operators for open and closed strings and study some of their properties. We also show that the superconformal moduli spaces of the NSR theory contain the global singularities, leading to the phenomenon of ghost-matter mixing and the appearance of nonperturbative D-brane creation operators.

D = 26 AND EXACT SOLUTION TO THE CONFORMAL-GAUGE TWO-DIMENSIONAL QUANTUM GRAVITY

The conformal-gauge two-dimensional quantum gravity is formulated in the framework of the BRS quantization and solved completely in the Heisenberg picture: all n-point Wightman functions are explicitly obtained. The field-equation anomaly is shown to exist as in other gauges, but there is no other subtlety. At the critical dimension D = 26 of the bosonic string, the field-equation anomaly is shown to be absent. However, this result is not equivalent to the statement that the conformal anomaly is proportional to D - 26. The existence of the FP-ghost number current anomaly is seen to be an illusion.

BRST and Anti-BRST Symmetry in Topological BF Theories

We realize the quantization of arbitrary-dimensional non-Abelian BF theories from the point of view of both the BRST symmetry and anti-BRST symmetry. The method relies on the possibility of enlarging the system of fields occurring in such theories by auxiliary fields introduced geometrically in terms of a superspace formalism. The off-shell nilpotency of the BRST and anti-BRST transformations of these fields is automatically guaranteed, thanks to the structure equations and the Bianchi identities. From this follows a direct construction of the BRST invariant full quantum action which leads, after the elimination of the auxiliary fields, to the same quantum action obtained in the context of the Batalin–Vilkovisky formalism. We also discuss how the constructed BRST invariant quantum action is anti-BRST invariant. In addition, we show that the non-Abelian BF theory in any space–time dimension possesses a vector supersymmetry of ghost number +1.