Related papers: An Exponentially Small $\mu$--term in String Theor…
Over the last few years, string theory has changed profoundly. Most importantly, novel duality relations have emerged which involve gauge theories of brane excitations on one side and various closed string backgrounds on the other. In this…
We develop the effective worldvolume theory for the dynamics of black branes with charges of the kind that arise in many supergravities and low-energy limits of string theory. Using this theory, we construct numerous new rotating black…
String theory is a quantum theory that reproduces the results of General Relativity at long distances but is completely different at short distances. Mathematically, string theory is based on a very new -- and little understood -- framework…
In these lectures, two different aspects of brane world scenarios in 5d gravity or string theory are discussed. In the first two lectures, work on how warped compactifications of 5d gravity theories can change the guise of the hierarchy…
The $R^2 F^{2g-2}$ terms of Type IIA strings on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, which are given by the corresponding topological string amplitudes (a worldsheet instanton sum for all genera), are shown to have a simple M-theory interpretation. In…
We compute the imaginary parts of genus-one string scattering amplitudes. Following Witten's $i\varepsilon$ prescription for the integration contour on the moduli space of worldsheets, we give a general algorithm for computing unitarity…
We describe a mechanism for localising branes in ambient space. When a 3-form flux is turned on in a Taub-NUT space, an M5-brane gets an effective potential that pins it to the center of the space. A similar effect occurs for M2-branes and…
In four-dimensional compactifications of the heterotic superstring theory the K\"ahler potential has a form which generically induces a superpotential mass term for Higgs particles once supersymmetry is broken at low energies. This…
String theory suggests modifications of our spacetime such as extra dimensions and the existence of a mininal length scale. In models with addidional dimensions, the Planck scale can be lowered to values accessible by future colliders.…
In the early Universe matter was crushed to high densities, in a manner similar to that encountered in gravitational collapse to black holes. String theory suggests that the large entropy of black holes can be understood in terms of…
We motivate and apply a bottom-up approach to string phenomenology, which aims to construct the Standard Model as a decoupled world-volume theory on a D3-brane. As a concrete proposal for such a construction, we consider a single probe…
String and M-theory contain a family of branes forming U-duality multiplets. In particular, standard branes with codimension higher than or equal to two, can be explicitly found as supergravity solutions. However, whether domain-wall branes…
The physical motivations and the basic construction rules for Type I strings and M-theory compactifications are reviewed in light of the recent developments. The first part contains the basic theoretical ingredients needed for building…
The connection between Supergravity and the low-energy world is analyzed. In particular, the soft Supersymmetry-breaking terms arising in Supergravity, the $\mu$ problem and various solutions proposed to solve it are reviewed. The soft…
By studying 2d string compactifications with half-maximal supersymmetry in a variety of duality frames, we find a natural physical setting for understanding Umbral moonshine. Near points in moduli space with enhanced gauge symmetry, we find…
We consider string phenomenological models based on 11D Horava-Witten M-theory with 5 branes in the bulk. If the 5-branes cluster close to the distant orbifold plane (d_n\equiv 1-z_n\simeq 0.1) and if the topological charges of the physical…
In brane-world models with low tension, the fluctuations of the brane along the extra dimensions (branons) are the only relevant new low-energy modes. Such branon fields are in general massive, stable and weakly interacting, and accordingly…
In the framework of a five-dimensional model with one 3-brane and an infinite extra dimension, we discuss a process in which matter escapes from the brane and propagates into the bulk to arbitrarily large distances. An example is a decay of…
We study the effects of extra dimensions on the muon anomalous magnetic moment with brane fluctuation. Since the coupling is naturally suppressed if brane fluctuation is considered by exponential softening factor for heavier states, the…
We study curves of marginal stability (CMS) in five-dimensional N=1 E_N theories compactified on a circle using the D3-brane probe realization. In this realization, BPS states correspond to string webs in the affine E_N 7-brane background…