Tachyon condensation and background independent superstring field theory

Abstract

We study quantum corrections at the one-loop level in open superstring tachyon condensation using the boundary string field theory (BSFT) method. We find that the tachyon field action has the same form as at the disc level, but with a renormalized effective coupling ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{'}}{=g}_{s}^{\mathrm{ren}}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}{T}^{2}/4}$ ${(g}_{s}^{\mathrm{ren}}$ is the renormalized dimensionless closed string coupling, ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}{T}^{2}/4}$ is the tachyonic field expectation value) and with an effective string tension. This result is in agreement with that based on general analysis of loop effects.