Related papers: Singular Spin Structures and Superstrings

The summation over spin structures, which is required to implement the GSO projection in the RNS formulation of superstring theories, often presents a significant impediment to the explicit evaluation of superstring amplitudes. In this…

We show that the higher genus 4-point superstring amplitude is strongly constrained by the geometry of moduli space of Riemann surfaces. A detailed analysis leads to a natural proposal which satisfies several conditions. The result is based…

This article investigates why the genus two, supermoduli space of curves will split in contrast to, potentially, almost all other supermoduli spaces. We use that the dimension of the odd, versal deformation space of a genus two, super…

Let $C$ be a smooth projective curve of genus $g\geq 3$ and let $\eta$ be an odd theta characteristic on it such that $h^0(C,\eta) = 1$. Pick a point $p$ from the support of $\eta$ and consider the one-dimensional linear system $|\eta +…

We describe an extension at the level of the moduli space of stable spin curves of genus g of the map associating to an ineffective spin structure its Scorza curve (equivalently, the vanishing locus of its Szeg\H{o} kernel). We compute the…

A section K on a genus g canonical curve C is identified as the key tool to prove new results on the geometry of the singular locus Theta_s of the theta divisor. The K divisor is characterized by the condition of linear dependence of a set…

The slice-independent gauge-fixed superstring chiral measure in genus 2 derived in the earlier papers of this series for each spin structure is evaluated explicitly in terms of theta-constants. The slice-independence allows an arbitrary…

Theta identities on genus g Riemann surfaces which decompose simple products of fermion correlation functions with a constraint on their variables are considered. This type of theta identities is, in a sense, dual to Fay s formula, by which…

We define a new theory of discrete Riemann surfaces and present its basic results. The key idea is to consider not only a cellular decomposition of a surface, but the union with its dual. Discrete holomorphy is defined by a straightforward…

One of the subtleties that has made superstring perturbation theory intricate at high string loop order is the fact that as shown by Donagi and Witten, supermoduli space is not holomorphically projected, nor is it holomorphically split. In…

Following the new gauging fixing method of D'Hoker and Phong, we study two-loop superstrings in hyperelliptic language. By using hyperelliptic representation of genus 2 Riemann surface we derive a set of identities involving the Szeg\"o…

This article is devoted to an overview of superstring perturbation theory from the point of view of super Riemann surfaces. We aim to elucidate some of the subtleties of superstring perturbation that caused difficulty in the early…

For any almost-simple group $G$ over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic zero, we describe the automorphism group of the moduli space of semistable $G$-bundles over a connected smooth projective curve $C$ of genus at least…

The properties of Dirac gamma matrices in a four-dimensional space-time with the $(2,2)$ signature are studied. The basic spinors are classified, and the existence of Majorana-Weyl spinors is noted. Supersymmetry in $2 + 2$ dimensions is…

In type II superstring theory, the vacuum amplitude at a given loop order $g$ can receive contributions from the boundary of the compactified, genus $g$ supermoduli space of curves $\overline{\mathfrak M}_g$. These contributions capture the…

We study the regularized determinants ${\rm det}\, \Delta$ of various self-adjoint extensions of symmetric Laplacians acting in spinor bundles over compact Riemann surfaces with flat singular metrics $|\omega|^2$, where $\omega$ is a…

In these lectures, recent progress on multiloop superstring perturbation theory is reviewed. A construction from first principles is given for an unambiguous and slice-independent two-loop superstring measure on moduli space for even spin…

Since any string theory involves a path integration on the world-sheet metric, their partition functions are volume forms on the moduli space of genus g Riemann surfaces M_g, or on its super analog. It is well known that modular invariance…

We examine some of the subtleties inherent in formulating a theory of spinors on a manifold with a smooth degenerate metric. We concentrate on the case where the metric is singular on a hypersurface that partitions the manifold into…

The non-perturbative superpotential generated by a heterotic superstring wrapped once around a genus-zero holomorphic curve is proportional to the Pfaffian involving the determinant of a Dirac operator on this curve. We show that the space…