picture (string theory)
In superstring theory, a picture is a choice of Fock space or, equivalently, a choice of ground state that defines a representation of the theory's state space. Each picture is denoted by a number, such as the 0 picture or −1 picture, and picture-changing operators transform from one representation to another.{{Cite journal |last=Witten |first=Edward |author-link=Ed Witten |date=October 1986 |title=Interacting field theory of open superstrings |journal=Nuclear Physics B |language=en |volume=276 |issue=2 |pages=291–324 |doi=10.1016/0550-3213(86)90298-1}}{{Cite journal |last=Horowitz |first=Gary T. |last2=Myers |first2=Robert C. |last3=Martin |first3=Stephen P. |date=February 1989 |title=BRST cohomology of the superstring at arbitrary ghost number |journal=Physics Letters B |language=en |volume=218 |issue=3 |pages=309–314 |doi=10.1016/0370-2693(89)91587-6}}{{Cite journal |last=Kroyter |first=Michael |date=2009-08-12 |title=On string fields and superstring field theories |url=http://stacks.iop.org/1126-6708/2009/i=08/a=044?key=crossref.13199d8a52e0f41ea0f302285ab9c5b5 |journal=Journal of High Energy Physics |volume=2009 |issue=08 |pages=044–044 |arxiv=0905.1170 |doi=10.1088/1126-6708/2009/08/044 |issn=1029-8479}} The use of these operators in BRST quantization is credited to Daniel Friedan, Emil Martinec, and Stephen Shenker in the 1980s, though it has a predecessor in the dual models of the early 1970s.{{Cite journal |last=Friedan |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Friedan |last2=Martinec |first2=Emil |author-link2=Emil Martinec |last3=Shenker |first3=Stephen |author-link3=Stephen Shenker |date=June 1986 |title=Conformal invariance, supersymmetry and string theory |url=https://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~friedan/papers/Nucl_Phys_B271_93_1986.pdf |journal=Nuclear Physics B |language=en |volume=271 |issue=1 |pages=93–165 |doi=10.1016/0550-3213(86)90356-1}}{{Cite journal |last=Neveu |first=A. |author-link=André Neveu |last2=Schwarz |first2=J. H. |author-link2=John Henry Schwarz |last3=Thorn |first3=C. B. |author-link3=Charles Thorn |date=July 1971 |title=Reformulation of the dual pion model |journal=Physics Letters B |language=en |volume=35 |issue=6 |pages=529–533 |doi=10.1016/0370-2693(71)90391-1}}
The difference between the ground states is indicated by the action of the superghost oscillators on them, and the number of the picture (plus 1/2) reflects the highest superghost oscillator which does not annihilate the ground state.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book |last=Polchinski |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Polchinski |title=String Theory, Volume II: Superstring Theory and Beyond |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-521-63304-8 |pages=108–110, 118–121, 126, 469}}