Gravitational Properties of Quantum Bosonic Strings

Abstract

In this thesis we are interested in the study of the gravitational properties of quantum bosonic strings. We start by computing the quantum energy-momentum tensor ${\hat T}^{\mu\nu}(x)$ for strings in Minkowski space-time. We perform the calculation of its expectation value for different physical string states both for open and closed bosonic strings. The states we consider are described by normalizable wave-packets in the centre of mass coordinates. Amongst our results, we find in particular that ${\hat T}^{\mu\nu}(x)$ becomes a non-local operator at the quantum level, its position appears to be smeared out by quantum fluctuations. We find that the expectation value acquires a non-zero value for both massive and massless string states. After computing $<{\hat T}^{\mu\nu}(x)>$ we proceed to calculate the gravitational field due to a quantum massless bosonic string in the framework of a weak-field approximation to Einstein's equations. We obtain a multipole expansion for the weak-field metric $h^{\mu\nu}(x)$ and present its gravitational properties, including the gravitational radiation produced by such a string. Our results are then compared to those found for classical (cosmic) strings.