Perturbative computations in string field theory

TL;DR

This paper discusses methods for computing string amplitudes using string field theory, comparing perturbative approaches with traditional world-sheet techniques, and provides computational strategies for both on-shell and off-shell cases.

Contribution

It introduces computational methods within string field theory for perturbative amplitude calculations and compares them with standard world-sheet approaches.

Findings

Perturbative methods can approximate string amplitudes effectively.

Comparison shows advantages and limitations of string field theory methods.

Provides computational strategies for on-shell and off-shell amplitudes.

Abstract

These notes describe how perturbative on-shell and off-shell string amplitudes can be computed using string field theory. Computational methods for approximating arbitrary amplitudes are discussed, and compared with standard world-sheet methods for computing on-shell amplitudes. These lecture notes are not self-contained; they contain the material from W. Taylor's TASI 2003 lectures not covered in the recently published ``TASI 2001'' notes {\tt hep-th/0311017} by Taylor and Zwiebach, and should be read as a supplement to those notes.