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Picture (string theory)
In superstring theory, a picture is a choice of Fock space or, equivalently, a choice of ground state that defines a representation of the theory's state space. Each picture is denoted by a number, such as the 0 picture or −1 picture, and picture-changing operators transform from one representation to another.[1][2][3] The use of these operators in BRST quantization is credited to Daniel Friedan, Emil Martinec, and Stephen Shenker in the 1980s, though it has a predecessor in the dual models of the early 1970s.[1][4][5]
The difference between the ground states is indicated by the action of the superghost oscillators on them, and the number of the picture (plus 1/2) reflects the highest superghost oscillator which does not annihilate the ground state.[citation needed]
^Horowitz, Gary T.; Myers, Robert C.; Martin, Stephen P. (February 1989). "BRST cohomology of the superstring at arbitrary ghost number". Physics Letters B. 218 (3): 309–314. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(89)91587-6.