Superstrings with torsion

Abstract

The conditions for spacetime supersymmetry of the heterotic superstring in backgrounds with arbitrary metric, torsion, Yang-Mills and dilaton expectation values are determined using the sigma model approach. The resulting equations are explicitly solved for the torsion and dilaton fields, and the remaining equations cast in a simple form. Previously unnoticed topological obstructions to solving these equations are found. The equations are shown to agree to leading order in perturbation theory with those derived in a field theory approach, provided one considers a more general ansatz than in previous analyses by allowing for a warp factor for the metric. Exact solutions with non-zero torsion are found, indicating a new class of finite sigma models. These solutions break the E_χ ⊗ E_χ or SO(32) gauge group down to a large variety of subgroups. Orbifolds with torsion are constructed. A perturbative analysis of the equations indicates a class of solutions whose existence has been recently argued for on other grounds. Brief comments are made on the implications for phenomenology.