Strebel Differentials and String Field Theory

Abstract

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 $n\ge 1,\ 2g-2+n\gt 0$. 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.