Abstract
We present a manifestly gauge covariant description of fluctuations of a relativistic extended object described by the Dirac-Nambu-Goto action with Dirac-Nambu-Goto loaded edges about a given classical solution. Whereas physical fluctuations of the bulk lie normal to its worldsheet, those on the edge possess an additional component directed into the bulk. These fluctuations couple in a nontrivial way involving the underlying geometrical structures associated with the worldsheet of the object and of its edge. We illustrate the formalism using as an example a string with massive point particles attached to its ends.
- Received 27 August 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.57.5158
©1998 American Physical Society