Related papers: Status of Superstring and M-Theory
In these lectures I describe some of the open questions in the standard model relating to the nature and origin of mass, forces and matter and discuss some of the speculative theoretical ideas put forth in this regard. Some of the topics…
This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six decades of…
Using as a springboard a three-way debate between theoretical physicist Lee Smolin, philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright and myself, I address in layman's terms the issues of why we need a unified theory of the fundamental interactions…
The first chapter treats the Standard Model of particle physics and electroweak symmetry breaking. Low-energy supersymmetry and its phenomenology at future colliders are discussed in the second chapter. Neutrino physics and lepton flavor…
This is a pedagogical introduction to D-branes, addressed to graduate students in field theory and particle physics and to other beginners in string theory. I am not going to review the most recent results since there are already many good…
The first part is an introduction to conformal field theory and string perturbation theory. The second part deals with the search for a deeper answer to the question posed in the title. Contents: 1. Conformal Field Theory 2. String Theory…
This Ph.D. thesis investigates effective field and string theories in which supersymmetry is realized and broken in various ways. Chapter 1 addresses effective theories with nonlinearly realized supersymmetry, constructed using the…
In this review, a number of approaches to superstring cosmology which make use of key features which distinguish string theory from point particle theories are discussed, with particular emphasis on emergent scenarios. One motivation for…
Ever since its birth, up until its present development, the major role of string theory involves being the best candidate for the theory of quantum gravity and other species of interactions. In the present work, we would like to accomplish…
A self-contained review is given of the matrix model of M-theory. The introductory part of the review is intended to be accessible to the general reader. M-theory is an eleven-dimensional quantum theory of gravity which is believed to…
In these lecture notes presented at the 2015 Villa de Leyva Summer School, we give an introduction to superstring theory. We begin by studying the particle and superparticle in order to get a better understanding on the superstring side.…
A brief review of the motivation and the present status of Fractional Superstring is presented. Talk at ``Strings 93'', Berkeley, May 1993.
We discuss the possibility that the electro-weak and strong interactions arise as the low energy effective description of branes in M-theory. As a step towards constructing such a model we show how one can naturally obtain SU(N_1)\times…
We review recent developments and outstanding questions regarding connecting the top-down UV complete physical framework of string theory with the observed physics of the Standard Model and beyond the Standard Model physics, emphasizing the…
In this article we examine the compatibility of some recent results, results relating M-Theory to String Theory, with the string-string duality conjecture in six-dimensions. In particular, we rederive the relation between M-Theory and Type…
This is a series of lectures on M Theory for cosmologists. After summarizing some of the main properties of M Theory and its dualities I show how it can be used to address various fundamental and phenomenological issues in cosmology.
Using a classical action associated to a point-particle in (1+1)-dimensions the classical string theory is derived. In connection with this result two aspects are clarified: First, the point particle in (1+1)-dimensions is not an ordinary…
These are short notes of three introductory lectures on recently proposed matrix models of Superstrings and M theory given at 5th Nordic Meeting on Supersymmetric Field and String Theories in Helsinki (March 10-12, 1997). Contents: M(atrix)…
This article surveys some of the highlights in the development of string theory through the first superstring revolution in 1984. The emphasis is on topics in which the author was involved, especially the observation that critical string…
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…