Off-shell Effective Actions in String Theory

Abstract A new, “off-shell”, approach to conformal invariance, β-functions and field equations in first quantized string theory is presented. The method, valid to all orders in the weak-field expansion and non-perturbatively in α′, is illustrated for a tachyon background at genus zero and one level. For a particular choice, we derive a Zamolodchikov-type equation for the effective action.