Worldsheet moduli (${\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$)

Worldsheet moduli parameterize inequivalent conformal structures and marked insertion points after worldsheet diffeomorphisms and Weyl invariance are fixed. At each genus, string perturbation theory integrates over the corresponding moduli space.

The torus worldsheet path integral is invariant under the modular group acting on its complex parameter $\tau$. Integrating over the standard fundamental domain of the modular group counts each inequivalent torus once and excludes the short-proper-time ultraviolet region.