String Field Theory

TL;DR

String field theory is a formulation of string theory as a space-time field theory with an infinite number of fields, offering potential insights into quantum gravity and multiple string backgrounds, despite current limitations.

Contribution

This paper provides an elementary introduction to string field theory, emphasizing its features, limitations, and potential for addressing background independence and cosmological questions.

Findings

String field theory involves an infinite number of massive fields.

It is, in principle, background-independent.

It may help understand cosmological questions in string theory.

Abstract

This elementary introduction to string field theory highlights the features and the limitations of this approach to quantum gravity as it is currently understood. String field theory is a formulation of string theory as a field theory in space-time with an infinite number of massive fields. Although existing constructions of string field theory require expanding around a fixed choice of space-time background, the theory is in principle background-independent, in the sense that different backgrounds can be realized as different field configurations in the theory. String field theory is the only string formalism developed so far which, in principle, has the potential to systematically address questions involving multiple asymptotically distinct string backgrounds. Thus, although it is not yet well defined as a quantum theory, string field theory may eventually be helpful for understanding questions related to cosmology in string theory.