 Open bosonic string mass spectrum

The string level operator for a free-ended open string is $N={\sum }_{k>0}{\alpha }_{-k}\cdot {\alpha }_k$. The quantum condition is ${\alpha }^{\prime }{M}^2=N-a$, where $a$ is the normal-ordering constant of a string. Lorentz-consistent bosonic string theory has $a=1$.