Null strings admit two Carroll-Weyl gauge scalings; the standard ILST action arises by fixing one of them, with the residual symmetry matching an overlooked partial gauge symmetry identified in prior work.
On the Consistency of Null Strings Literature: The Tale of an Overlooked Symmetry
5 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
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Pith papers citing it
abstract
We observe that the null string action possesses a previously overlooked local symmetry. By correctly accounting for this symmetry, we show that the number of physical propagating degrees of freedom of null strings in $D$ dimensional target space is $D-3$, in contrast to $D-2$ that one finds in the literature. Overlooking this symmetry has led to an unphysical over-counting of states, rendering the null string analyses inconsistent. Thus, our observation calls for a thorough revision of all statements and results in the null string literature.
fields
hep-th 5years
2026 5verdicts
UNVERDICTED 5representative citing papers
Null bosonic string quantization on Carrollian worldsheets requires an extra scalar ghost pair for Carroll-Weyl scaling, yielding a bcs system that alters the BRST complex and anomaly cancellation beyond the standard BMS bc treatment.
Null strings exhibit an independent Carroll-Weyl gauge symmetry that necessitates an extended BMS₃ algebra of constraints.
The conformal null string reduces from d+2 to d dimensions via Dirac slices, with the Virasoro-su(1,1) algebra mapping to Carrollian-Weyl symmetry.
The scale transformation symmetry of tensionless strings has been treated in numerous prior classical and quantum studies.
citing papers explorer
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Null Strings Gauged and Reloaded, I: Null Strings Have Carroll-Weyl Gauge Symmetry
Null strings admit two Carroll-Weyl gauge scalings; the standard ILST action arises by fixing one of them, with the residual symmetry matching an overlooked partial gauge symmetry identified in prior work.
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Path integral quantization of null bosonic strings with Carroll-Weyl ghosts
Null bosonic string quantization on Carrollian worldsheets requires an extra scalar ghost pair for Carroll-Weyl scaling, yielding a bcs system that alters the BRST complex and anomaly cancellation beyond the standard BMS bc treatment.
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Null Strings Gauged and Reloaded, II: Consistent Classical Treatment of the Null Strings
Null strings exhibit an independent Carroll-Weyl gauge symmetry that necessitates an extended BMS₃ algebra of constraints.
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The conformal null string in $d+2$ and $d$ dimensions
The conformal null string reduces from d+2 to d dimensions via Dirac slices, with the Virasoro-su(1,1) algebra mapping to Carrollian-Weyl symmetry.
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Symmetries of tensionless strings
The scale transformation symmetry of tensionless strings has been treated in numerous prior classical and quantum studies.