- #1
maverick280857
- 1,789
- 5
Hi,
(I'm not sure if this belongs in the BSM forum...apologies to the moderator if it belongs there.)
I'm working through Polchinski's book on string theory (volume 1) and I came cross the definition of the Nambu Goto action. I want to understand why the Nambu Goto action is proportional to the area of the world sheet. This is probably a trivial question but I'll ask anyway.
Specifically
[tex]S_{NG} = -\int_{M} d\tau d\sigma\frac{1}{2\pi\alpha'}(-\det(h_{ab}))^{1/2}[/tex]
where
[tex]h_{ab} = \partial_{a}X^\mu \partial_b X_\mu[/tex]
Thanks!
(I'm not sure if this belongs in the BSM forum...apologies to the moderator if it belongs there.)
I'm working through Polchinski's book on string theory (volume 1) and I came cross the definition of the Nambu Goto action. I want to understand why the Nambu Goto action is proportional to the area of the world sheet. This is probably a trivial question but I'll ask anyway.
Specifically
[tex]S_{NG} = -\int_{M} d\tau d\sigma\frac{1}{2\pi\alpha'}(-\det(h_{ab}))^{1/2}[/tex]
where
[tex]h_{ab} = \partial_{a}X^\mu \partial_b X_\mu[/tex]
Thanks!
Last edited: