The Lorentzian Space-Times of the Orientation-Orbifold String Systems

Abstract

To illustrate our recent discussions of the target space-times in general orbifold-string theories of permutation-type, we return here to a detailed analysis of some simple examples of this type, namely an explicit set of orientation-orbifold string systems. These orientation-orbifold string systems provide twisted, multisector generalizations of ordinary critical open-closed bosonic string systems -- each such system exhibiting a unique graviton. Furthermore, each sector $\sigma$ of these string systems shows the following properties: a) 26 effective degrees of freedom, b) a Lorentzian space-time with space-time dimension $D(\sigma)\leq 26$, c) an $SO(D(\sigma)-1,1)$-invariant ordinary string subsystem with quantized intercept less than or equal one, and d) an extra set of $(26-D(\sigma))$ twisted fields which are $SO(D(\sigma)-1,1)$ scalars. Subexamples of non-tachyonic strings and four-dimensional strings are noted. Additionally, we discuss certain subsets of physical states of these theories, concluding that these investigations are so far consistent with the no-ghost conjecture for all the Lorentzian orbifold-string theories of permutation-type.