English

Spin structures and superstrings

High Energy Physics - Theory 2010-07-29 v1 Algebraic Topology Differential Geometry

Abstract

In superstring theory spin structures are present on both the 2-dimensional worldsheet and 10-dimensional spacetime. We present a new proposal for the B-field in superstring theory and demonstrate its interaction with worldsheet spin structures. Our formulation generalizes to orientifolds, where various twistings appear. A special case of the orientifold worldsheet B-field amplitude is a KO-theoretic construction of the Z/8Z-valued Kervaire invariant on pin-minus surfaces.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1007.4581,
  title  = {Spin structures and superstrings},
  author = {Jacques Distler and Daniel S. Freed and Gregory W. Moore},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1007.4581},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

27 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T15:53:18.410Z