Goddard–Thorn theorem

In mathematics, and in particular in the mathematical background of string theory, the Goddard–Thorn theorem (also called the no-ghost theorem) is a theorem describing properties of a functor that quantizes bosonic strings. It is named after Peter Goddard and Charles Thorn.

The name "no-ghost theorem" stems from the fact that in the original statement of the theorem, the natural inner product induced on the output vector space is positive definite. Thus, there were no so-called ghosts (Pauli–Villars ghosts), or vectors of negative norm. The name "no-ghost theorem" is also a word play on the no-go theorem of quantum mechanics.