2025/05/29 by Raji Ashenafi Mamade, Barton Zwiebach, Mamade, Raji Ashenafi +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.23924
31 pages, added references. Added a section 4.1 on the identification of diffeomorphisms in string theory
arxiv created 2026/07/30 · arxiv updated 2026/08/03
We consider the gauge algebra of closed string field theory with a focus on diffeomorphisms. This algebra contains off-shell information in two ways. The first way is geometric, through the choice of three-punctured sphere defining the three-string vertex. We establish that to leading order in derivatives the superstring algebra is universal: identical for any choice of vertex. For bosonic strings, however, some off-shell dependence remains for vertices that require symmetrization. Off-shell information also appears because field-dependent redefinition of the gauge parameters can alter the algebra. We analyze this dependence in the language of L_∞ algebras, looking at the role of trivial gauge transformations in the efforts to demonstrate that standard diffeomorphisms are part of the string gauge symmetry.