Manifest Spacetime Supersymmetry and the Superstring

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how the non-minimal RNS superstring formalism achieves manifest spacetime supersymmetry by eliminating the need for picture-changing, and relates it to the pure spinor formalism through a field redefinition.

Contribution

It introduces a non-minimal RNS formalism that makes spacetime supersymmetry explicit and connects it to the pure spinor approach.

Findings

Algebra of supersymmetry closes without picture-changing in the non-minimal formalism.

Non-minimal RNS formalism is related to pure spinor formalism via a field redefinition.

Spacetime supersymmetry can be made manifest in the RNS superstring.

Abstract

The algebra of spacetime supersymmetry generators in the RNS formalism for the superstring closes only up to a picture-changing operation. After adding non-minimal variables and working in the "large" Hilbert space, the algebra closes without picture-changing and spacetime supersymmetry can be made manifest. The resulting non-minimal version of the RNS formalism is related by a field redefinition to the pure spinor formalism.