Closed-String Tachyon Condensation and the Worldsheet Super-Higgs Effect
High Energy Physics - Theory
2008-11-26 v3
Abstract
Alternative gauge choices for worldsheet supersymmetry can elucidate dynamical phenomena obscured in the usual superconformal gauge. In the particular example of the tachyonic heterotic string, we use a judicious gauge choice to show that the process of closed-string tachyon condensation can be understood in terms of a worldsheet super-Higgs effect. The worldsheet gravitino assimilates the goldstino and becomes a dynamical propagating field. Conformal, but not superconformal, invariance is maintained throughout.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0709.2162,
title = {Closed-String Tachyon Condensation and the Worldsheet Super-Higgs Effect},
author = {Petr Horava and Cynthia A. Keeler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.2162},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
4 pages; v2: typos corrected, a reference added; v3: final version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (abstract and intro modified for a broader audience)