Cohomology foundations of one-loop amplitudes in pure spinor superspace

Abstract: We describe a pure spinor BRST cohomology framework to compactly represent ten-dimensional one-loop amplitudes involving any number of massless open- and closed-string states. The method of previous work to construct scalar and vectorial BRST invariants in pure spinor superspace signals the appearance of the hexagon gauge anomaly when applied to tensors. We study the systematics of the underlying BRST anomaly by defining the notion of pseudo-cohomology. This leads to a rich network of pseudo-invariant superfields of arbitrary tensor rank whose behavior under traces and contractions with external momenta is determined from cohomology manipulations. Separate papers will illustrate the virtue of the superfields in this work to represent one-loop amplitudes of the superstring and of ten-dimensional super-Yang--Mills theory.