2002/02/22 by Davide Gaiotto, Leonardo Rastelli, Ashoke Sen +1 · 4 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algebraic structures and combinatorial models #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Geometric and Algebraic Topology #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2002/04/060
published as JHEP 0204:060,2002 · 65 pages, 23 figures, LaTeX
arxiv created 2002/02/22 · openalex publication_date 2002/04/30 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Surface states are open string field configurations which arise from Riemann surfaces with a boundary and form a subalgebra of the star algebra. We find that a general class of star algebra projectors arise from surface states where the open string midpoint reaches the boundary of the surface. The projector property of the state and the split nature of its wave-functional arise because of a nontrivial feature of conformal maps of nearly degenerate surfaces. Moreover, all such projectors are invariant under constant and opposite translations of their half-strings. We show that the half-string states associated to these projectors are themselves surface states. In addition to the sliver, we identify other interesting projectors. These include a butterfly state, which is the tensor product of half-string vacua, and a nothing state, where the Riemann surface collapses.