Open string field theory without open strings
Ian Ellwood (MIT), Washington Taylor (ITP, MIT)
TL;DR
This paper investigates the vacuum structure of Witten's cubic open string field theory, providing evidence that the stable vacuum lacks physical open string states by analyzing the BRST cohomology.
Contribution
It extends the analysis of open string field theory around the stable vacuum, including multiple scalar levels, and computes the BRST cohomology to demonstrate the absence of open string states.
Findings
BRST cohomology indicates no physical open strings in the stable vacuum
Scalar fields at levels 0, 2, 4, and 6 included in the analysis
Strong evidence for open string disappearance in the stable vacuum
Abstract
Witten's cubic open string field theory is expanded around the perturbatively stable vacuum, including all scalar fields at levels 0, 2, 4 and 6. The (approximate) BRST cohomology of the theory is computed, giving strong evidence for the absence of physical open string states in this vacuum.
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