English

A superspace approach to AdS$_3$ string theory

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-03-20 v1

Abstract

We carefully examine the Polyakov path integral for strings on AdS3\text{AdS}_3 in superspace, both for type II and heterotic superstrings. We construct a free-field realization of the supersymmetric SL(2,R)\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R}) WZW model which manifestly preserves worldsheet supersymmetry and use this free-field realization to construct spectrally-flowed vertex operators describing the emission of long strings in the bulk. By working directly with the moduli space of super Riemann surfaces, we exactly compute tree-level correlation functions of long strings in the `near-boundary' limit without resorting to the standard picture-changing-operator (PCO) procedure. Finally, we argue how these correlators schematically reproduce correlation functions of the conjectured boundary CFTs, and as a result provide a novel proposal for the CFT dual for heterotic superstrings in AdS3\text{AdS}_3.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.18142,
  title  = {A superspace approach to AdS$_3$ string theory},
  author = {Bob Knighton and Nathan McStay and Vit Sriprachyakul},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.18142},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

81 pages

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:26:55.274Z