Related papers: On the boundedness of effective potentials arising…
We consider heterotic string compactifications to four dimensions when instantons shrink to zero size. If the standard model gauge group originates from the new gauge symmetry associated with the small instantons singularity, then the…
We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…
We study the landscape of axion theories in compactifications of type IIB string theory on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefolds. In a sample of approximately 400,000 geometries we find that in the regime of perturbative control there are…
We calculate one-loop string amplitudes of open and closed strings with N=1,2,4 supersymmetry in four and six dimensions, by compactification on Calabi-Yau and K3 orbifolds. In particular, we develop a method to combine contributions from…
We describe a class of 4d N=1 compactifications of the $SO(32)$ heterotic/type I string theory which are destabilized by nonperturbatively generated superpotentials. In the type I description, the destabilizing superpotential is generated…
Recent advances in non-critical string theory allow a unique continuation, preserving conformal invariance, of critical Polyakov string amplitudes to off-shell momenta. These continuations possess unusual, apparently stringy,…
This TASI lecture covers the material in hep-th/9205026. It reviewed the theory of effective strings, with particular emphasis on the manner in which Lorentz invariance is represented. The quantum properties of an example of an effective…
We study field theories in the limit that a compactified dimension becomes lightlike. In almost all cases the amplitudes at each order of perturbation theory diverge in the limit, due to strong interactions among the longitudinal zero…
In these lectures we give a brief introduction to perturbative and non-perturbative string theory. The outline is the following: 1. Introduction to perturbative string theory 1.1 From point particle to extended objects 1.2 Free closed and…
We consider compactifications of the heterotic string on $K3 \times T2$ so that the resulting theory in $d = 4$ space-time dimensions has $N = 2$ supersymmetry. The gravitational and gauge coupling constants of the low-energy effective…
I discuss several aspects of strings as unified theories. After recalling the difficulties of the simplest supersymmetric grand unification schemes I emphasize the distinct features of string unification. An important role in constraining…
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…
We study loop corrections to positivity bounds on effective field theories in the context of $2\to 2$ scattering in gravitational theories, in the presence of light particles. It has been observed that certain negative contributions at low…
A fundamental problem in contemporary string/M theory is to count the number of inequivalent vacua satisfying constraints in a string theory model. This article contains the first rigorous results on the number and distribution of…
We derive Lifshitz configurations in string theory for general dynamical exponents z \geq 1. We begin by obtaining simple Li x Omega solutions to supergravities in diverse dimensions, with Omega a compact constant curvature manifold. Then…
We review recent work in which compactifications of string and M theory are constructed in which all scalar fields (moduli) are massive, and supersymmetry is broken with a small positive cosmological constant, features needed to reproduce…
We give necessary conditions for the existence of perturbative heterotic and common sector type II string warped compactifications preserving four and eight supersymmetries to four spacetime dimensions, respectively. In particular, we find…
A detailed study of the charge spectrum of three dimensional Abelian Topological Massive Gauge Theory (TMGT) is given. When this theory is defined on a manifold with two disconnected boundaries there are induced chiral Conformal Field…
We study string compactifications with sixteen supersymmetries. The moduli space for these compactifications becomes quite intricate in lower dimensions, partly because there are many different irreducible components. We focus primarily,…
Warped string compactifications are central to many attempts to stabilize moduli and connect string theory with cosmology and particle phenomenology. We present a first-principles derivation of the low-energy 4D effective theory from…