W string theories in critical and non-critical spacetime dimension /

In this dissertation, we study various aspects of W string

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Xu, Kai-Wen, 1963-
Format: Thesis Book
Language:English
Published: [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] ; 1994.
Subjects:
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Description
Summary:In this dissertation, we study various aspects of W string
theories in critical and non-critical spacetime dimension.
Based on the Miura transformation, we construct multi-field
realisations of the WN algebras and N = 2 super-W,, algebras,
which are the ingredients of WN strings and N = 2 super-W,,
strings. We obtain the physical states of these theories in
standard ghost structure, and in particular we obtain the
complete spectrum of the W3 string. We find that there is a
clear relation between the spectrum of WN ( N = 2 super-W. )
strings and the Virasoro ( N = 2 superconformal ) minimal
models, and the tachyonic states of these strings are related
by the corresponding Weyl reflections. We investigate W. and
Wl+. gravity, and show that there are hidden SL(oo, R) and
GL(oo, R) Kac-Moody symmetries in these gravity theories. We
reformulate the BRST quantisation procedure for chiral
worldsheet gravities, and calculate the anomaly of the W3
string in the light-cone gauge.
Item Description:Vita.
"Major Subject: Physics".
In title, symbols are used.
Physical Description:vii, 157 leaves ; 28 cm.
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references.