Heterotic twistor-string theory

TL;DR

This paper reformulates twistor-string theory as a heterotic string model based on a twisted (0,2) framework, connecting it to N=4 super Yang-Mills and conformal supergravity, and clarifying relations among existing models.

Contribution

It introduces a heterotic (0,2) twistor-string model that unifies and explains previous formulations, providing a new perspective on scattering amplitudes and twistor actions.

Findings

Derives standard twistor-string amplitude formulas from the heterotic model.

Shows how the model encodes states of N=4 super Yang-Mills and conformal supergravity.

Clarifies relationships between Witten's and Berkovits' twistor-string theories.

Abstract

We reformulate twistor-string theory as a heterotic string based on a twisted (0,2) model. The path integral localizes on holomorphic maps, while the (0,2) moduli naturally correspond to the states of N=4 super Yang-Mills and conformal supergravity under the Penrose transform. We show how the standard twistor-string formulae of scattering amplitudes as integrals over the space of curves in supertwistor space may be obtained from our model. The corresponding string field theory gives rise to a twistor action for N=4 conformal supergravity coupled to super Yang-Mills. The model helps to explain how the twistor-strings of Witten and Berkovits are related and clarifies various aspects of each of these models.