- #1
Qturtle
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Hey all. I've started to read and watch lectures on string theory. usually everyone starts with a classical relativistic particle action, and then goes to a classical relativistic string action. after they finish with the classical string they start the quantization process.
my question is somewhere before the quantization itself, but i don't see anyone mention this in the lectures or books i am reading so i thought to ask it here. I remember that when we where deriving the wave equation for a classical string, we had to use the assumption that the string have only small vibrations, and that it has to be tense. if the string have no tension then the equation of motion is not very wavelike.. and it is also very intuitive that if i just take a loose string, its motion is not only described by a simple wave equation. the same goes for a closed string - since if it is closed then it is usually loose and have less tension.
when looking at the derivations in the books, i don't see any mentions to the restrictions of the strings. it looks like the relativistic action that they provide is used to completely describe a a loose or open strings that are not tense, but can loosely move through space and everything. they provide some function that is used to provide the location of every point of the string in space, and there is no restriction on the shape that the string can have.
my question is regarding the nature of these strings - what are the restriction used to derive the relativistic (soon to be quantized) action? can these strings move however they want? can they wobble around themselves? can they have knots? because from what i see, they can ONLY have small vibrations propagating through them, provided they have tension, and that's it. at least that is what you get if you start from a classical string that is described by a wave equation. am i wrong?
Thank's in advance
my question is somewhere before the quantization itself, but i don't see anyone mention this in the lectures or books i am reading so i thought to ask it here. I remember that when we where deriving the wave equation for a classical string, we had to use the assumption that the string have only small vibrations, and that it has to be tense. if the string have no tension then the equation of motion is not very wavelike.. and it is also very intuitive that if i just take a loose string, its motion is not only described by a simple wave equation. the same goes for a closed string - since if it is closed then it is usually loose and have less tension.
when looking at the derivations in the books, i don't see any mentions to the restrictions of the strings. it looks like the relativistic action that they provide is used to completely describe a a loose or open strings that are not tense, but can loosely move through space and everything. they provide some function that is used to provide the location of every point of the string in space, and there is no restriction on the shape that the string can have.
my question is regarding the nature of these strings - what are the restriction used to derive the relativistic (soon to be quantized) action? can these strings move however they want? can they wobble around themselves? can they have knots? because from what i see, they can ONLY have small vibrations propagating through them, provided they have tension, and that's it. at least that is what you get if you start from a classical string that is described by a wave equation. am i wrong?
Thank's in advance