Abstract

The pure spinor formalism for the superstring, initiated by N. Berkovits, is derived at the fully quantum level starting from a fundamental reparametrization invariant and super-Poincaré invariant worldsheet action. It is a simple extension of the Green-Schwarz action with doubled spinor degrees of freedom with a compensating local supersymmetry on top of the conventional κ-symmetry. Equivalence to the Green-Schwarz formalism is manifest from the outset. The use of free fields in the pure spinor formalism is justified from the first principle. The basic idea works also for the superparticle in 11 dimensions.