Related papers: Notes on Strings and Higher Spins
We study the minimal requirements to obtain axion strings for axions with exponentially good quality. These ingredients appear in theories where an axion coming from a higher-form gauge field mixes with the phase of a complex scalar field…
In this letter a new class of twisted strings is presented, with an asymmetry between the holomorphic and antiholomorphic sectors parametrized by an integer $N$. Their physical content is given by the massless resonances of the closed…
Closed string diagrams are derived from cubic open string field theory using a gauge fixed kinetic operator. The basic idea is to use a string propagator that does not generate a boundary to the world sheet. Using this propagator and the…
We consider massless string scattering amplitudes in a limit where the number of external particles becomes very large, while the energy of each particle remains small. Using the growth of the volume of the relevant moduli space, and by…
Perturbative string amplitudes are correctly derived from the string geometry theory, which is one of the candidates of a non-perturbative formulation of string theory. In order to derive non-perturbative effects rather easily, we formulate…
Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that form whenever phase transitions in the early universe break axial symmetries as originally shown by Kibble. They are the result of frustrated order in the quantum fields responsible…
Consequences of a strong version of the AdS/CFT correspondence for extremely stringy physics are examined. In particular, properties of N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory are used to extract results about interacting tensionless strings…
We discuss the connection between Matrix string theory and the DLCQ of string theory. Using this connection we describe the sense in which perturbative string amplitudes are reproduced in the Matrix string theory. Using recent realization…
We study the behaviour of spinning strings in the background of various distributions of smeared giant gravitons in supergravity. This gives insights into the behaviour of operators of high dimension, spin and R-charge. Using a new…
String theory has been the dominating research field in theoretical physics during the last decades. Despite the considerable time elapse, no new testable predictions have been derived by string theorists and it is understandable that…
I consider the question of the interaction between a QCD string and the spin of a quark or an antiquark on whose worldline the string terminates. The problem is analysed from the point of view of a string representation for the expectation…
The perturbative dynamics of noncommutative field theory (NCFT) is discussed from a point view of string field theory. As in the commutative case it is inevitable to introduce a closed string, which may be described as a bound state of two…
The Matrix String Theory, i.e. the two dimensional U(N) SYM with N=(8,8) supersymmetry, has classical BPS solutions that interpolate between an initial and a final string configuration via a bordered Riemann surface. The Matrix String…
It has been suggested that matrix string theory and light-cone string field theory are closely related. In this paper, we investigate the relation between the twist field, which represents string interactions in matrix string theory, and…
This is an invited contribution to the Special Issue of "Foundations of Physics" titled "Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations". I have been asked to assess string theory as an outsider, and to compare it with the…
String theory abounds with light scalar fields (the dilaton and various moduli) which create a host of observational problems, and notably some serious cosmological difficulties similar to the ones associated with the Polonyi field in the…
String-bit models are both an efficient way of organizing string perturbation theory, and a possible non-perturbative composite description of string theory. This is a summary of ideas and results of string-bit and superstring-bit models,…
We consider weakly-coupled theories of massive higher-spin particles. This class of models includes, for instance, tree-level String Theory and Large-N Yang-Mills theory. The S-matrix in such theories is a meromorphic function obeying…
Pair creation of strings in time-dependent backgrounds is studied from an effective field theory viewpoint, and some possible cosmological applications are discussed. Simple estimates suggest that excited strings may have played a…
String theory has not even come close to a complete formulation after half a century of intense research. On the other hand, a number of features of the theory suggest that the theory, once completed, may be a final theory. It is argued in…