Y-formalism in pure spinor quantization of superstrings

Abstract We present the Y-formalism in the pure spinor quantization of superstring theory in detail. Even if the ω–λ OPE is not completely free owing to the presence of the projector reflecting the pure spinor constraint, it is shown that one can construct at the quantum level a conformal field theory in full agreement with the Berkovits' pure spinor formalism. The OPEs of the two formalisms are the same if we define the relevant operators involving ω in a suitable manner. Moreover, the Y-formalism at hand is utilized to find the full expression of the covariant, picture-raised b antighost b B , with a reasonable amount of effort.