The complete non-perturbative partition function of minimal superstring theory and JT supergravity

A bstract We derive an exact convergent expression for the partition function of the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:math> = 1 (2, 4 k ) minimal superstring theory with type 0B GSO projection in the ungapped phase by leveraging the duality between this theory and a double-scaled unitary matrix integral. Taking the k → ∞ limit, we also obtain the complete partition function of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:math> = 1 JT supergravity, including all contributions associated with “doubly non-perturbative” effects. We discover that the fundamental objects of the string theory are a linear combination of the standard FZZT branes which we call F-branes, along with their charge-conjugate partners which we call anti-F-branes. Summing over the disk and cylinder diagram contributions of the F-branes and anti-F-branes and integrating over their moduli space completely reproduces our expression for the partition function from the matrix integral side of the duality. We show that the string theory can be expressed precisely in the formalism of dressed free fermions and we propose a Hilbert space interpretation of our results. We present exact expressions for the matrix integral correlators of the double-scaled eigenvalue density.