A String Derivation of the $\nd{S}$ matrix

Abstract

We show that, in string theory, as a result of the $W_{\infty}$-symmetries that preserve quantum coherence in the {\it full} string theory by coupling different mass levels, transitions between initial- and final-state density matrices for the effective light-particle theory involve non-Hamiltonian terms $\nd{δH}$ in their time evolution, and are described by a $\nd{S}$ matrix that is not factorizable as a product of field-theoretical $S$ and $S^\dagger$ matrices. We exhibit non-trivial string contributions to $\nd{δH}$ and the $\nd{S}$ matrix associated with topological fluctuations related to the coset model that describes an s-wave black hole. These include monopole-antimonopole configurations on the world-sheet that correspond to black hole creation and annihilation, and instantons that represent back-reaction via quantum jumps between black holes of different mass, both of which make the string supercritical. The resulting Liouville mode is interpreted as the time variable, and the arrow of time is associated with black hole decay. Since conformal invariance is broken in the non-critical string theory, monopole and antimonopole, or instanton and anti-instanton, are not separable, and the