String oscillator

The Fourier modes ${\alpha }_n^i$ and ${\tilde{\alpha }}_n^i$ of the transverse closed-string coordinates obey harmonic-oscillator commutation relations. Modes with negative index create string excitations.

Closed-string periodicity and the residual spatial constraint require equal left- and right-moving excitation levels, $N=\tilde{N}$.

The normal-ordering constant is the zero-point shift in the quantum Virasoro generator. Closure of the target-space Lorentz algebra fixes $a=1$ and the spacetime dimension $D=26$ for the bosonic string.

For a closed bosonic string,