The Superstring Propagator and the Signature of Space-Time

Abstract

The Faddeev (Newton–Wigner) propagator K for the heterotic superstring theory is derived from the Wheeler–DeWitt equation for the wave function of the Universe Ψ, obtained in the four-dimensional (mini-superspace) Friedmann space-time ds2=dt2-a2(t)dx2, after reduction from the ten-action. The effect of higher-derivative terms ℛ2 is to break the local invariance under time reparametrization to a global symmetry t→λt, and consequently there are no ghost or gauge-fixing contributions, a functional integral over the (constant) Lagrange multiplier λ being sufficient to enforce the Hamiltonian constraint implicitly. After Wick rotation of the time, [Formula: see text], the only physically acceptable solution for K decreases exponentially on the Planck time-scale ~ t P , explaining from the quantum cosmological viewpoint why the signature of space-time is Lorentzian rather than Euclidean. This is analogous to the case of the (two-dimensional) free relativistic scalar particle, discussed recently by Redmount and Suen, who found that the propagator decreases exponentially outside the light-cone on the scale of the Compton wavelength of the particle (in accordance with the Heisenberg indeterminacy principle). These two seemingly different forms of acausality are thus physically excluded in the same way. The propagator for the Schwarzschild black hole of mass M is also obtained from the Schrödinger equation for the wave function on the apparent horizon, due to Tomimatsu, and the Hawking temperature T H =(8π M)-1 is derived from the Euclidean form of this equation.