Covariant Quantization of the Green-Schwarz Superstring in a Calabi-Yau Background

Abstract

After adding a scalar chiral boson to the usual superspace variables, the four-dimensional Green-Schwarz superstring is quantized in a manifestly SO(3,1) super-Poincar\'e covariant manner. The constraints are all first-class and form an N=2 superconformal algebra with $c=-3$. Since the Calabi-Yau degrees of freedom are described by an N=2 superconformal field theory with $c=9$, the combined Green-Schwarz and Calabi-Yau systems form the $c=6$ matter sector of a critical N=2 string. Using the standard N=2 super-Virasoro ghosts, a nilpotent BRST charge is defined and vertex operators for the massless supermultiplets are constructed. Four-dimensional superstring amplitudes can be calculated with manifest SO(3,1) super-Poincar\'e invariance by evaluating correlation functions of these BRST-invariant vertex operators on N=2 super-Riemann surfaces.