Hyperbolic String Vertices

TL;DR

This paper constructs string vertices in closed string field theory using hyperbolic geometry, proving their existence and uniqueness, and relates hyperbolic and minimal-area vertices through a geometric approach.

Contribution

It provides a homological proof of the existence and uniqueness of string vertices using hyperbolic metrics and constructs them explicitly with systole constraints.

Findings

String vertices are constructed as surfaces with systole ≥ L.

Hyperbolic collars prevent short geodesics during sewing.

Hyperbolic vertices approach minimal-area vertices as L→∞.

Abstract

The string vertices of closed string field theory are subsets of the moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces that satisfy a geometric version of the Batalin-Vilkovisky master equation. We present a homological proof of existence of string vertices and their uniqueness up to canonical transformations. Using hyperbolic metrics on surfaces with geodesic boundaries we give an exact construction of string vertices as sets of surfaces with systole greater than or equal to $L$ with $L\leq 2\, \hbox{arcsinh}\, 1$. Intrinsic hyperbolic collars prevent the appearance of short geodesics upon sewing. The surfaces generated by Feynman diagrams are naturally endowed with Thurston metrics: hyperbolic on the vertices and flat on the propagators. For the classical theory the length $L$ is arbitrary and, as $L\to \infty$ hyperbolic vertices become the minimal-area vertices of closed string theory.