Strebel differentials and string field theory

Abstract

A closed string worldsheet of genus g with n punctures can be presented as a contact interaction in which n semi-infinite cylinders are glued together in a specific way via the Strebel differential on it, if n ≥ 1, 2g − 2 + n > 0. We construct a string field theory of closed strings such that all the Feynman diagrams are represented by such contact interactions. In order to do so, we define off-shell amplitudes in the underlying string theory using the combinatorial Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates to describe the moduli space and derive a recursion relation satisfied by them. Utilizing the Fokker-Planck formalism, we construct a string field theory from which the recursion relation can be deduced through the Schwinger-Dyson equation. The Fokker-Planck Hamiltonian consists of kinetic terms and three string interaction terms.