Quantizing Effective Strings

Abstract

This TASI lecture covers the material in hep-th/9205026. It reviewed the theory of effective strings, with particular emphasis on the manner in which Lorentz invariance is represented. The quantum properties of an example of an effective string are derived from the underlying field theory. A comparison is made with what one would expect if one assumed that quantum effective strings were governed by fundamental string actions such as the Nambu-Goto or the Polyakov actions. It is shown that the requirements on dimensions for consistent quantizations of fundamental strings imply no contradictions for effective strings.