Stretched quantum membranes Original Research Article

We study bosonic and space–time supersymmetric membranes with small tensions corresponding to stretched configurations. Using a generalized lightcone gauge, one may set up a perturbation theory around configurations having zero tension. We will show, by explicit construction to all orders in perturbation theory, that these membrane configurations are canonically equivalent, and thereby solvable, to string-like configurations with string excitations transverse to the stretched direction. At the quantum level, it is shown that there exists an ordering such that equivalence by unitary transformations is achieved. Consistency requires the critical dimensions 27 and 11 for the bosonic and supersymmetric cases, respectively. The mass spectrum is determined to any order. It is discrete and contains massless excitations. The ground state is purely string-like, whereas excited string-like states split through the perturbation into an infinite set of states with equal or lower energies.