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Non-compact String Backgrounds and Non-rational CFT

Volker Schomerus
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Abstract

This is an introduction to the microscopic techniques of non-rational bulk and boundary conformal field theory which are needed to describe strings moving in non-compact curved backgrounds. The latter arise e.g. in the context of AdS/CFT-like dualities and for studies of time-dependent processes. After a general outline of the central concepts, we focus on two specific but rather prototypical models: Liouville field theory and the 2D cigar. Rather than following the historical path, the presentation attempts to be systematic and self-contained.

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Volker Schomerus. 2005-09-20. Non-compact String Backgrounds and Non-rational CFT. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2006.05.001

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