Open string states and D-brane tension from vacuum string field theory

Abstract

We propose a description of open string fields on a D25-brane in vacuum string field theory. We show that the tachyon mass is correctly reproduced from our proposal and further argue that the mass spectrum of all other open string states is correctly obtained as well. We identify the string coupling constant from the three-tachyon coupling and show that the tension of a D25-brane is correctly expressed in terms of the coupling constant, which resolves the controversy in the literature. We also discuss a reformulation of our description which is rather similar to boundary string field theory.