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arXiv · hep-th/9308001

``Theory of Theories'' Approach to String Theory

H. Hata
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Abstract

We propose a new formulation of gauge theories as a quantum theory which has the gauge theory action $S$ as its dynamical variable. This system is described by a simple actional $I(S)$ (that is, an action for the action $S$) whose equation of motion gives the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) master equation for $S$. Upon quantization we find that our new formulation is reduced to something like a topological field theory having a BRST exact gauge-fixed actional. Therefore the present formulation can reproduce ordinary gauge theories since the path-integral over $S$ is dominated by the classical configuration which satisfies the BV master equation. This ``theory of theories'' formulation is intended to be applied to closed string field theory.

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H. Hata. 1993-08-02. ``Theory of Theories'' Approach to String Theory. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.50.4079

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