Open Strings and Heterotic Instantons

Motivated by closed string perturbation theory arguments by S. Shenker, we consider non-perturbative effects of characteristic strength \(\mathcal{O}(e^{-1/g_{s}})\), with \(g_{s}\) the closed string coupling constant, in supersymmetric critical heterotic string theories. We argue that in 10D such e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2024-07
Main Authors: Álvarez-García, Rafael, Kneißl, Christian, Leedom, Jacob M, Righi, Nicole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Degrees of freedom
Instantons
Perturbation theory
Relativity
String theory
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Motivated by closed string perturbation theory arguments by S. Shenker, we consider non-perturbative effects of characteristic strength \(\mathcal{O}(e^{-1/g_{s}})\), with \(g_{s}\) the closed string coupling constant, in supersymmetric critical heterotic string theories. We argue that in 10D such effects arise from heterotic "D-instantons," i.e. heterotic disk diagrams, whose existence relies on a non-trivial interplay between worldsheet and spacetime degrees of freedom. In compactifications of the \(\mathrm{SemiSpin}(32)\) heterotic string, we argue that similar effects can arise from wrapped Euclidean non-BPS "D-strings." Two general principles arise: The first is that the consistency of those heterotic branes on which the fundamental string can end relies on an inflow mechanism for spacetime degrees of freedom. The second is that Shenker's argument, taken to its logical conclusion, implies that all closed string theories must exhibit open strings as well.
ISSN:2331-8422