2008/08/27 by Elena Mirela Babalic, Mirela Babalic, Niclas Wyllard
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algebraic structures and combinatorial models #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Combinatorics #Geometry #Kappa #Mathematical physics #Mathematics #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Physics #Spinor #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2008/10/059
published as JHEP0810:059,2008 · 15 Pages
arxiv created 2008/08/27 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the relation between the kappa-symmetric formulation of the supermembrane in eleven dimensions and the pure-spinor version. Recently, Berkovits related the Green-Schwarz and pure-spinor superstrings. In this paper, we attempt to extend this method to the supermembrane. We show that it is possible to reinstate the reparameterisation constraints in the pure-spinor formulation of the supermembrane by introducing a topological sector and performing a similarity transformation. The resulting BRST charge is then of conventional type and is argued to be (related to) the BRST charge of the kappa-symmetric supermembrane in a formulation where all second class constraints are 'gauge unfixed' to first class constraints. In our analysis we also encounter a natural candidate for a (non-covariant) supermembrane analogue of the superstring b ghost.