On the Spectrum and Scattering of W₃ Strings

1993/01/31 by H. Lu, H. Lü, C. N. Pope +4 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/0550-3213(93)90131-8

published as Nucl.Phys.B408:3-42,1993 · 37 pages. CPT TAMU-4/93, Preprint-KUL-TF-93/2. (Note Added, clarifying issues raised in preprint KCL-TH-93-2, hep-th/9302114.)

arxiv created 1993/02/26 · openalex publication_date 1993/11/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We present a detailed investigation of scattering processes in W₃ string theory. We discover further physical states with continuous momentum, which involve excitations of the ghosts as well as the matter, and use them to gain a better understanding of the interacting theory. The scattering amplitudes display factorisation properties, with states from the different sectors of the theory being exchanged in the various intermediate channels. We find strong evidence for the unitarity of the theory, despite the unusual ghost structure of some of the physical states. Finally, we show that by performing a transformation of the quantum fields that involves mixing the ghost fields with one of the matter fields, the structure of the physical states is dramatically simplified. The new formalism provides a concise framework within which to study the W₃ string.

Citations

• Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory
• Discrete States in the W₃ String
• The Low-level Spectrum of the W₃ String
• The Interacting W₃ String

Cited by

• A note on W2,s strings
• On the BRST operator of W-strings
• Physical states and BRST operators for higher-spin W strings
• The multivalued free-field maps of Liouville and Toda gravities
• Higher-spin strings and W minimal models
• Critical and non-critical strings