Related papers: A Walk Through Superstring Theory With an Applicat…
We study the embedding of cosmic strings, related to the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortex solution, into d=4, N=1 supergravity. We find that the local cosmic string solution which saturates the BPS bound of supergravity with $D$-term…
We engineer a class of quiver gauge theories with several interesting features by studying D-branes at a simple Calabi-Yau singularity. At weak 't Hooft coupling we argue using field theory techniques that these theories admit both…
We discuss the possible applications of string theory for the construction of generalizations of the $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ standard model of strong and electroweak interactions. This includes an investigation of effective $d=4$…
In view of extending gauge/gravity dualities with flavour beyond the probe approximation, we establish the gravity dual description of mesons for a three-dimensional super Yang-Mills theory with fundamental matter. For this purpose we…
We find new supergravity solutions generated by D5-branes wrapping a four-cycle and preserving four and two supersymmetries. We first consider the configuration in which the fivebranes wrap a four-cycle in a Calabi-Yau threefold, which…
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…
This thesis analyses gauged supergravities in various dimensions and their possible origin from compactifications of string theory. In the effective description the fluxes appear in the theory as deformation parameters generating a…
We study N=1 dualities in four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories in terms of wrapping D 6-branes around 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds in type IIA string theory. We generalize the recent work of geometrical realization for the…
We study some features of the confining string connecting a quark-anti-quark pair in Yang-Mills theory. Monte Carlo investigations of the flux tube between two static quarks in the fundamental representation show that its thickness…
Under the spirit of J. Polchinsky's introduction of D-brane in the string target spacetime (or 'bulk', for short), we consider the presence of both closed and open superstrings and coupling of their low-lying modes in the bulk. As a probe…
In this paper we examine a certain threebrane solution of type IIB string theory whose long-wavelength dynamics are those of a supersymmetric gauge theory in 2+1 continuous and 1 discrete dimension, all of infinite extent. Low-energy…
We review recent developments in duality symmetric string theory. We begin with the world sheet doubled formalism which describes strings in an extended space time with extra coordinates conjugate to winding modes. This formalism is…
We generalize the ideas and formalism of Two-Time Physics from particle dynamics to some specific examples of string and p-brane (p >= 1) dynamics. The two-time string or p-brane action can be gauge fixed to produce various one-time string…
We refine the dictionary of the gauge/gravity correspondence realizing N=1 super Yang-Mills by means of D5-branes wrapped on a resolved Calabi-Yau space. This is done by fixing an ambiguity on the correct interpretation of the holographic…
We conjecture that $W$ gravity can be interpreted as the gauge theory of $\phi$ diffeomorphisms in the space of dimensionally-reduced $D=2+2$ $SU^*(\infty)$ Yang-Mills instantons. These $\phi$ diffeomorphisms preserve a volume-three form…
By exploiting recent arguments about stable nonsupersymmetric D-brane states, we argue that D-brane charge takes values in the K-theory of spacetime, as has been suspected before. In the process, we gain a new understanding of some novel…
It is pointed out that the sine law for the k-string tension emerges as the critical threshold below which the spatial Z_N symmetry of the static baryon potential is spontaneously broken. This result applies not only to SU(N) gauge…
We study two-dimensional SQED viewed as the world-volume theory of a D-string in the presence of D5-branes with non-zero background fields that induce attractive forces between the branes. In various approximations, the low-energy dynamics…
In discussing the construction of a consistent theory of quantum gravity unified with the gauge interactions we are naturally led to a string theory. We review its properties and the five consistent supersymmetric string theories in ten…
We study the gauge/gravity duality for supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in 1+0 dimension with sixteen supercharges using lattice simulations. The conjectured duality states that the gravity side is described by N D0-branes in type IIA…