English

On the normalization of open-closed string amplitudes

High Energy Physics - Theory 2024-05-08 v1

Abstract

We use the factorization constraints of open-closed string field theory to determine the signs and normalizations of general string amplitudes with both open and closed string external states. The normalization of all amplitudes is controlled by the genus, the number of boundaries, the number of open and closed string insertions, the string coupling and the D-brane tension. The challenge with signs arises because the relevant moduli spaces are not complex manifolds and have no obvious orientation. We deal with this by fixing a specific convention for the sign of the integration measure over the moduli space and adopting a consistent prescription for the ordering of operators and ghost insertions inside correlators.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2405.03784,
  title  = {On the normalization of open-closed string amplitudes},
  author = {Ashoke Sen and Barton Zwiebach},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.03784},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

40 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T16:18:36.175Z