1992/04/28 by C.N. Pope, C. N. Pope, Pope, C. N.
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Computational Physics and Python Applications #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/9204093
13 pages
arxiv created 1992/04/28 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
We review some of the recent developments in the construction of W-string theories. These are generalisations of ordinary strings in which the two-dimensional ``worldsheet'' theory, instead of being a gauging of the Virasoro algebra, is a gauging of a higher-spin extension of the Virasoro algebra---a W algebra. Despite the complexity of the (non-linear) W algebras, it turns out that the spectrum can be computed completely and explicitly for more or less any W string. The result is equivalent to a set of spectra for Virasoro strings with unusual central charge and intercepts.