Nambu–Goto action

E194944

The Nambu–Goto action is a fundamental formulation in string theory that describes the dynamics of relativistic strings by minimizing the area of their worldsheet in spacetime.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf action functional
relativistic field theory concept
string theory concept
appliesTo closed strings
open strings
associatedWith string tension proportional to 1/(2πα′)
belongsTo relativistic string theory framework
definedIn spacetime
dependsOn induced metric on the worldsheet
describes dynamics of relativistic strings
equivalentTo Polyakov action classically
expressedInTermsOf embedding fields X^μ(σ,τ)
string tension T or parameter α′
worldsheet coordinates
formulatedAs area of a two-dimensional worldsheet embedded in spacetime
generalizes relativistic point particle action
hasAlternativeFormulation Polyakov action
surface form: Polyakov action with auxiliary worldsheet metric
hasDimension action (energy × time)
hasProperty Lorentz invariance in target spacetime
Poincaré invariance in target spacetime
reparametrization invariance
historicallyPrecededBy early dual resonance models of hadrons
introducedFor quantization of relativistic strings
introducedInField theoretical physics
invariantUnder target-space Lorentz transformations
worldsheet diffeomorphisms
worldsheet reparametrizations
involves determinant of the induced metric
string tension
mathematicallyRepresents area functional of an embedded 2D surface
minimizes area of the string worldsheet
motivatedBy view of particles as one-dimensional extended objects
namedAfter Tetsuo Goto NERFINISHED
Yoichiro Nambu
oftenReplacedBy Polyakov action in string theory
surface form: Polyakov action for path-integral quantization
quantizationIs technically difficult in covariant form
relatedTo geodesic principle generalized to strings
minimal surface problem
requires choice of target spacetime metric
usedIn bosonic string theory
relativistic string models
superstring theory
usedToDerive string equations of motion in curved backgrounds
string equations of motion in flat spacetime
worldsheetHas two parameters σ and τ
yields Virasoro constraints in canonical quantization
classical equations of motion for strings

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Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Yoichiro Nambu knownFor Nambu–Goto action
Nambu knownFor Nambu–Goto action
subject surface form: Yoichiro Nambu
this entity surface form: Nambu–Goto action in string theory