Partha Mukhopadhyay

We study lattice wouldsheet theory with continuous time describing free motion of a system of bound string bits. We use a non-local lattice derivative that allows us to preserve all the symmetries of the continuum including the worldsheet local symmetries. There exists a ``local correspondence'' between the continuum and lattice theories in the sense that every local dynamical or constraint equation in the continuum also holds true on the lattice, site-wise. We perform a detailed symmetry analysis for the bits and establish conservation laws. In particular, for a bosonic non-linear sigma model with arbitrary target space, we demonstrate both the global symmetry algebra and classical Virasoro algebra (in position space) on the lattice. Our construction is generalizable to higher dimensions for any generally covariant theory that can be studied by expanding around a globally hyperbolic spacetime with conformally flat Cauchy slices.

We consider the problem of locally describing tubular geometry around a submanifold embedded in a (pseudo)Riemannian manifold in its general form. Given the geometry of ambient space in an arbitrary coordinate system and equations determining the submanifold in the same system, we compute the tubular expansion coefficients in terms of this {\it a priori data}. This is done by using an indirect method that crucially applies the tubular expansion theorem for vielbein previously derived. With an explicit construction involving the relevant coordinate and non-coordinate frames we verify consistency of the whole method up to quadratic order in vielbein expansion. Furthermore, we perform certain (long and tedious) higher order computation which verifies the first non-trivial spin connection term in the expansion for the first time. Earlier a similar method was used to compute tubular geometry in loop space. We explain this work in the light of our general construction.

We consider tubular neighborhood of an arbitrary submanifold embedded in a (pseudo-)Riemannian manifold. This can be described by Fermi normal coordinates (FNC) satisfying certain conditions as described by Florides and Synge in \cite{FS}. By generalizing the work of Muller {\it et al} in \cite{muller} on Riemann normal coordinate expansion, we derive all order FNC expansion of vielbein in this neighborhood with closed form expressions for the curvature expansion coefficients. Our result is shown to be consistent with certain integral theorem for the metric proved in \cite{FS}.

We consider tubular neighborhood of an arbitrary submanifold embedded in a (pseudo-) Riemannian manifold. This can be described by Fermi normal coordinates (FNC) satisfying certain conditions as described by Florides and Synge in [15]. By generalizing the work of Muller et al. in [54] on Riemann normal coordinate expansion, we derive all order FNC expansion of vielbein in this neighborhood with closed form expressions for the curvature expansion coefficients. Our result is shown to be consistent with certain integral theorem for the metric proved in [15].

We analyze exact conformal invariance of string worldsheet theory in non-trivial backgrounds using hamiltonian framework. In the first part of this talk we consider the example of type IIB superstrings in Ramond-Ramond pp-wave background. In particular, we discuss the quantum definition of energy-momentum (EM) tensor and two methods of computing Virasoro algebra. One of the methods uses dynamical supersymmetries and indirectly establishes (partially) conformal invariance when the background is on-shell. We discuss the problem of operator ordering involved in the other method which attempts to compute the algebra directly. This method is supposed to work for off-shell backgrounds and therefore is more useful. In order to understand this method better we attempt a background independent formulation of the problem which is discussed in the second half of the talk. For a bosonic string moving in an arbitrary metric-background such a framework is obtained by following DeWitt's work (Phys.Rev.85:653–661,1952) in the context of particle quantum mechanics. In particular, we construct certain background independent analogue of quantum Virasoro generators and show that in spin-zero representation they satisfy the Witt algebra with additional anomalous terms that vanish for Ricci-flat backgrounds. We also report on a new result which states that the same algebra holds true in arbitrary tensor representations as well.

Following earlier work, we view two-dimensional nonlinear sigma model as single particle quantum mechanics in the free loop space of the target space. In a natural semiclassical limit of this model, the wavefunction localizes on the submanifold of vanishing loops. One would expect that the semiclassical expansion should be related to the tubular expansion of the theory around the submanifold and effective dynamics on the submanifold is obtainable using Born-Oppenheimer approximation. We develop a framework to carry out such an analysis at the leading order. In particular, we show that the linearized tachyon effective equation is correctly reproduced up to divergent terms all proportional to the Ricci scalar. The steps are as follows: first we define a finite dimensional analogue of the loop space quantum mechanics (LSQM) where we discuss its tubular expansion and how that is related to a semiclassical expansion of the Hamiltonian. Then we study an explicit construction of the relevant tubular neighborhood in loop space using exponential maps. Such a tubular geometry is obtained from a Riemannian structure on the tangent bundle of target space which views the zero-section as a submanifold admitting a tubular neighborhood. Using this result and exploiting an analogy with the toy model, we arrive at the final result for LSQM.