Temperature Dependence of String Theory in the Presence of World-Sheet Boundaries

TL;DR

This paper investigates how world-sheet boundaries influence the temperature behavior of bosonic string theory, revealing features that resemble the high-temperature phase of large-$n$ $SU(n)$ Yang--Mills theory, with implications for understanding confinement.

Contribution

It analyzes the temperature dependence of bosonic string theory with boundaries, connecting string boundary conditions to gauge theory confinement phenomena.

Findings

High-temperature behavior with Dirichlet boundaries shows confining phase features.

Results suggest a link between string boundaries and gauge theory confinement.

First-order perturbation analysis highlights boundary effects on thermodynamics.

Abstract

The effect of world-sheet boundaries on the temperature-dependence of bosonic string theory is studied to first order in string perturbation theory. The high- temperature behaviour of a theory with Dirichlet boundary conditions has features suggestive of the high-temperature limit of the confining phase of large-$n$ $SU(n)$ Yang--Mills theory, recently discussed by Polchinski.