Delta-function Interactions for the Bosonic and Spinning Strings and the Generation of Abelian Gauge Theory

TL;DR

This paper develops contact interactions for bosonic and spinning strings, showing how the tensionless spinning string reproduces super-Wilson loops and spinor QED, highlighting the role of supersymmetry in avoiding divergences.

Contribution

It introduces a string-based framework for Abelian gauge theory using contact interactions, emphasizing the importance of world-sheet supersymmetry for consistency.

Findings

Spinning strings reproduce super-Wilson loops.

Adding boundary terms yields spinor QED.

Bosonic models face divergences, supersymmetry resolves them.

Abstract

We construct contact interactions for bosonic and spinning strings. In the tensionless limit of the spinning string this reproduces the super-Wilson loop that couples spinor matter to Abelian gauge theory. Adding boundary terms that quantise the motion of charges results in a string model equivalent to spinor QED. The strings represent lines of electric flux connected to the charges. The purely bosonic model is spoilt by divergences that are excluded from the spinning model by world-sheet supersymmetry, indicating a preference for spinor matter.