Related papers: Life on moduli space?
In string/M-theory with a large compactification radius, some axion-like moduli can be much lighter than the gravitino. Generic moduli in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking models also have a mass far below the weak scale. Motivated by…
We argue that in the context of string theory a large number N of connected degenerate vacua that mix will lead to a ground state with much lower energy, essentially because of the standard level repulsion of quantum theory for the…
We discuss several aspects of the cosmological evolution of moduli fields in heterotic string/M-theory scenarios. In particular we study the equations of motion of both the dilaton and overall modulus of these theories in the presence of an…
The correspondence between Matrix String Theory in the strong coupling limit and IIA superstring theory can be shown by means of the instanton solutions of the former. We construct the general instanton solutions of Matrix String Theory…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
We show that a unique, most probable and stable solution for the wavefunction of the universe, with a very small cosmological constant $\Lambda_1 \simeq (\frac{\pi}{l_p N})^2$, can be predicted from the supersymmetric minisuperspace with…
We establish a relation, conjectured recently by E. Witten, between the hypermultiplet moduli space in compactifications of the heterotic string on an A-D-E singularities, and the moduli spaces of three dimensional pure gauge theories with…
We analyze the behaviour of moduli fields in string effective models between the end of inflation and reheating. The effective moduli potential during this era is derived for a class of simple models. We argue that this potential…
We present a detailed analysis of the cosmic string spectrum. Explicit solutions are numerically found using Mathematica and presented here for the lowest-lying supported modes. Most of the emphasis is on the Nambu-Goldstone modes and the…
We explore the moduli space of heterotic strings in two dimensions. In doing so, we introduce new lines of compactified theories with Spin(24) gauge symmetry and discuss compactifications with Wilson lines. The phase structure of d=2…
We discuss the singularities in the moduli space of string compactifications to six dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. Such singularities arise from either massless particles or non-critical tensionless strings. The points with…
It is emphasized that compactified little string theories have compact moduli spaces of vacua, which globally probe compact string geometry. Compactifying various little string theories on T^3 leads to 3d theories with exact, quantum…
We derive a constraint on the cosmic density of string moduli fields in gauge-mediated supersymmetry-breaking theories by requiring that photons emitted from the unstable moduli fields should not exceed the observed X-ray backgrounds. Since…
We consider the classical Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solutions that describe a universe undergoing a transition from an accelerating expansion phase in the past to an eternal decelerating expansion phase in the future, driven by a scalar…
Identifying flux vacua in string theory with stabilized complex structure moduli presents a significant challenge, necessitating the minimization of a scalar potential complicated by infinitely many exponential corrections. In order to…
We investigate moduli field dynamics in supergravity/M-theory like set ups where we turn on fluxes along some or all of the extra dimensions. As has been argued in the context of string theory, we observe that the fluxes tend to stabilize…
String theory posesses numerous axion candidates. The recent realization that the compactification radius in string theory might be large means that these states can solve the strong CP problem. This still leaves the question of the…
A brief discussion is presented assessing the achievements and challenges of string phenomenology: the subfield dedicated to study the potential for string theory to make contact with particle physics and cosmology. Building from the well…
We discuss string theory vacua which have the wrong number of spacetime dimensions, and give a crude argument that vacua with more than four large dimensions are improbable. We then turn to two dimensional vacua, which naively appear to…
We provide evidence that slow roll is not possible in any parametrically controlled regime of the moduli space of string theory. This is proven in full generality in the asymptotic limit of the moduli space of type II and heterotic…