Related papers: A proposal for studying off-shell stability of vac…
I discuss conceptual issues associated with the presence of metastable AdS vacua in the string landscape. The geometry of the decay from one AdS to another is presented in detail, and various subtleties that are not present for flat or dS…
Recent developments in string theory have reinforced the notion that the space of stable supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric string vacua fills out a ``landscape'' whose features are largely unknown. It is then hoped that progress in…
We investigate the properties of the renormalisation group (RG) flow of two-dimensional sigma models with a generic metric coupling by utilising known results for the Ricci flow. We point out that on many occasions the RG flow develops…
The problem of the stabilization of moduli is discussed within the context of compactified strongly coupled heterotic string theory. It is shown that all geometric, vector bundle and five-brane moduli are completely fixed, within a…
Scaling concepts and renormalization group (RG) methods are applied to a simple linear model of human posture control consisting of a trembling or quivering string subject to damping and restoring forces. The string is driven by…
We give a pedagogical introduction to Affleck and Ludwig's g-theorem, distinguishing its applications in field theory vs string theory. We clarify the recent proposal that the vacuum degeneracy $g$ of a noncompact worldsheet sigma model…
A world-sheet sigma model approach is applied to string theories dual to four-dimensional gauge theories, and semi-classical soliton solutions representing highly excited string states are identified which correspond to gauge theory…
We construct and simulate the dynamics of gauged vortons - circular loops of cosmic string supported by the angular momentum of trapped charge and current and provide additional details on the fully stable vorton that we have previously…
We construct gravity solutions describing renormalization group flows relating relativistic and non-relativistic conformal theories. We work both in a simple phenomenological theory with a massive vector field, and in an N=4, d=6 gauged…
Time-dependent solutions of bosonic string theory resemble renormalisation group trajectories in the space of 2d field theories: they often interpolate between repulsive and attractive static solutions. It is shown that the attractive…
We discuss the issue of going off-shell in the proper time formalism. This is done by keeping a finite world sheet cutoff. We construct one example of an off-shell covariant Klein Gordon type interaction. For a suitable choice of the gauge…
We show an explicit relation between an RG flow of a two-dimensional gravity and an on-shell tachyon condensation in the corresponding string theory, in the case when the string theory is supercritical. The shape of the tachyon potential in…
A nonlinear two-fluid stochastic hydrodynamical description of velocity and concentration fluctuations in sedimenting suspensions is constructed, and analyzed using self-consistent (SC) and renormalization group (RG) methods. The advection…
We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0 (super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions (exactly…
The renormalization group approach towards the string representation of non abelian gauge theories translates, in terms of the string sigma model beta function equations, the renormalization group evolution of the gauge coupling constant…
In this article we study the mechanical stability of spherically symmetric thin shells with charge, in Einstein-Maxwell and Einstein-Born-Infeld theories. We analyze linearized perturbations preserving the symmetry, for shells around vacuum…
A new approach to vacuum decay in quantum field theory, based on a simple variational formulation in field space using a tunneling potential, is ideally suited to study the effects of gravity on such decays. The method allows to prove in…
In the recent times a lot of effort has been devoted to improve our knowledge about the space of string theory vacua (``the landscape'') to find statistical grounds to justify how and why the theory selects its vacuum. Particularly…
We construct a non-topological string solution for a supersymmetric gauge theory with $SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge symmetry which is spontaneously broken to $U(1)$ by developing the vacuum expectation value of two doublet Higgses. It is a…
In this paper we conduct a general, model-independent analysis of the running of gauge couplings within closed string theories. Unlike previous discussions in the literature, our calculations fully respect the underlying modular invariance…