Related papers: Summing over all Topologies in CDT String Field Th…
We suggest a conformally invariant generalization of string theory to higher-dimensional objects. As such a model, we consider a conformally invariant $\sigma$ model. For this theory, the Hamiltonian formalism is constructed, and the full…
We examine the question how string theory achieves a sum over bulk geometries with fixed asymptotic boundary conditions. We discuss this problem with the help of the tensionless string on $\mathcal{M}_3 \times \mathrm{S}^3 \times…
We consider 4D $SU(N)$ gauge theories coupled to gravity in the Causal Dynamical Triangulations (CDT) approach, focusing on the topological classification of the gauge path integral over fixed triangulations. We discretize the topological…
We extend earlier ideas about the appearance of noncommutative geometry in string theory with a nonzero B-field. We identify a limit in which the entire string dynamics is described by a minimally coupled (supersymmetric) gauge theory on a…
Dense distributions of string-like objects in material media are considered in terms of continuum field theory. The strings are assumed to carry a quantized abelian topological charge, such as the Burgers vector of dislocations in solids or…
It is shown that all possible N sheeted coverings of the cylinder are contained in type IIA matrix string theory as non-trivial gauge field configurations. Using these gauge field configurations as backgrounds the large $N$ limit is shown…
We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological…
In these lectures we describe how a theory of quantum gravity may be constructed in terms of a lattice formulation based on so-called causal dynamical triangulations (CDT). We discuss how the continuum limit can be obtained and how to…
We study the geometries generated by two-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations (CDT) coupled to $d$ massless scalar fields. Using methods similar to those used to study four-dimensional CDT we show that there exists a $c=1$ "barrier",…
The massless fields in the universal NS-NS sector of string theory form $O(D, D)$ multiplets of Double Field Theory, which is a theory that provides a T-duality covariant formulation of supergravity, leading to a stringy modification of…
We study the relation between topological string theory and singularity theory using the partition function of $A_{N-1}$ topological string defined by matrix integral of Kontsevich type. Genus expansion of the free energy is considered, and…
We study string theory in supersymmetric time-dependent backgrounds. In the framework of general relativity, supersymmetry for spacetimes without flux implies the existence of a covariantly constant null vector, and a relatively simple form…
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with…
The aim of this paper is to use correspondence between solutions in the $c=1$ matrix model collective field theory and coupled dilaton-gravity to a massless scalar field. First, we obtain the incoming and outgoing fluctuations for the…
The standard lore about the sum over topological sectors in quantum field theory is that locality and cluster decomposition uniquely determine the sum over such sectors, thus leading to the usual theta-vacua. We show that without changing…
We develop techniques to compute higher loop string amplitudes for twisted $N=2$ theories with $\hat c=3$ (i.e. the critical case). An important ingredient is the discovery of an anomaly at every genus in decoupling of BRST trivial states,…
String theory can (in principle) describe gravity at all curvature scales, and can be applied to cosmology to look back in time beyond the Planck epoch. The duality symmetries of string theory suggest a cosmological picture in which the…
We consider the relevance of a collective field theory description for the AdS/CFT correspondence. Collective field theory performs a systematic reorganization of the degrees of freedom of a (non-gravitational) field theory, replacing the…
Present day physics rests on two main pillars: General relativity and quantum field theory. We discuss the deep and at the same time problematic interplay between these two theories. Based on an argument by Doplicher, Fredenhagen, and…
The strong coupling limit of a quantum system is in general quite complicated, but in some cases a great simplification occurs: the strongly coupled limit is equivalent to the weakly coupled limit of some other system. In string theory…