A unified approach to string scattering amplitudes (Q916840)

The main result of this paper is an analog of the Belavin-Knizhnik theorem in bosonic string theory. The Belavin-Knizhnik theorem asserts that the Polyakov volume form on the moduli space \({\mathcal M}_ g\) of complex algebraic curves of genus g is the square of the absolute value of a holomorphic form (i.e., the Mumford form). This paper treats the more general case of the Polyakov form on the moduli space \({\mathcal M}_{g,n}\) of curves of genus g with n given points. The required holomorphic form is constructed on a certain infinite cover \({\mathcal M}_{g,n,B}\) of \({\mathcal M}_{g,n}\). This cover parametrizes complex algebraic curves X with n distinct ordered points \(Q_ 1,...,Q_ n\) and an isotopical class of a disk B in X containing the \(Q_ i\). The disk is needed to obtain line bundles that are associated to divisors on X in which the \(Q_ i\) are allowed to have complex coefficients. The usual concepts (Weil-Deligne pairings, Arakelov measures, Quillen metrics) are generalized to this framework.