World-sheet duality for D-branes with travelling waves

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the channel duality for D-branes with traveling wave profiles in string theory by connecting the open-string S-matrix with the closed-string boundary state, highlighting the role of Wick rotation and light-cone time.

Contribution

It establishes the quantum channel duality for D-branes with arbitrary traveling wave profiles using boundary states and open-string S-matrix calculations.

Findings

Reproduces open-string S-matrix from closed-string boundary state

Identifies open-string light-cone time as preferred coordinate

Shows channel duality in time-dependent D-brane backgrounds

Abstract

We study D-branes with plane waves of arbitrary profiles as examples of time-dependent backgrounds in string theory. We show how to reproduce the quantum mechanical (one-to-one) open-string S-matrix starting from the closed-string boundary state for the D-branes, thereby establishing the channel duality of this calculation. The required Wick rotation to a Lorentzian worldsheet singles out as 'prefered' time coordinate the open-string light-cone time.