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3 votes
1 answer
124 views

How is the dimensionful renornalization scale $\mu$ related to break of scale invariance in String Theory?

In the $7.1.1$ of David Tong's String Theory notes it is said the following about regularization of Polyakov action in a curved target manifold: $$\tag{7.3} S= \frac{1}{4\pi \alpha'} \int d^2\sigma \ ...
Генивалдо's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
132 views

Normalization of zero point energy in string theory

Following Joe Polchinski’s Little Book of String, page 12, he use the sum $$1+2+3+...=-1/12$$ to find the zero point energy of the bosonic string (and later used the result to argue that we must have ...
ziv's user avatar
  • 1,734
1 vote
1 answer
256 views

Is string theory self-consistent? (Conformal anomaly)

Recently I attended a very short course on string theory. We went through the standard presentation in light-cone gauge for brevity. We ‘derived’ the Einstein field equation in the following manner. ...
thedoctar's user avatar
  • 516
2 votes
0 answers
144 views

Anomalies from a Renormaization Group Equation (RGE)

This is an approach to anomalies which seems unfamiliar to me.. Firstly what is this function $W$ which seems to satisfy the equation, $\frac{\partial W }{\partial g^{\mu \nu} } = \langle T_{\mu \nu}...
Student's user avatar
  • 4,561
4 votes
1 answer
294 views

Regularization and renomalization in the lightcone quantization of bosonic string

This question relates to this link. But I still don't understand it >_< In Polchinski's string theory vol I, p. 22, there is a divergence term (when $\epsilon \rightarrow 0$) in the zero point ...
user26143's user avatar
  • 6,401