Operator Product Expansion and Topological States in $c = 1$ Matter Coupled to 2-D Gravity

Abstract

Factorization of the $N$-tachyon amplitudes in two-dimensional $c=1$ quantum gravity is studied by means of the operator product expansion of vertex operators after the Liouville zero mode integration. Short-distance singularities between two tachyons with opposite chiralities account for all singularities in the $N$-tachyon amplitudes. Although the factorization is valid, other possible short-distance singularities corresponding to other combinations of vertex operators are absent since the residue vanishes. Apart from the tachyon states, there are infinitely many topological states contributing to the intermediate states. This is a more detailed account of our short communication on the factorization.