Related papers: Recent progress in the effective string theory des…
The aim of this paper is to give a firm and clear proof of the existence in the background field framework of a gauge invariant effective action for any gauge theory ({\it background gauge equivalence}). Here by effective action we mean a…
A review of various aspects of superstrings in background electromagnetic fields is presented. Topics covered include the Born-Infeld action, spectrum of open strings in background gauge fields, the Schwinger mechanism, finite-temperature…
I give an overview of open, closed and heterotic N=2 strings. At the tree level I derive the effective field theories of all the strings, and discuss the group theory of the N=2 open string and the interaction between its open and closed…
A Lorentz non-invariant higher derivative effective action in flat spacetime, characterised by a constant vector, can be made invariant under infinitesimal Lorentz transformations by restricting the allowed field configurations. These…
The uniquess of the effective actions describing 4D SU(2) and SU(3) continuum, infinite-volume Yang-Mills thermodynamics in their deconfining and preconfining phases is made explicit. Subsequently, the spatial string tension is computed in…
We perform a high precision measurement of the static $q\bar{q}$ potential in three-dimensional SU($N$) gauge theory with $N=2,3$ and compare the results to the potential obtained from the effective string theory. In particular, we show…
We study the black string solutions in the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet(EGB) theory at large $D$. By using the $1/D$ expansion in the near horizon region we derive the effective equations that describe the dynamics of the EGB black strings. The…
We study some of the novel properties of conformal field theories with noncompact target spaces as applied to string theory. Standard CFT results get corrected by boundary terms in the target space in a way consistent with the expected…
String breaking is a fundamental concept in gauge theories, describing the decay of a flux string connecting two charges through the production of particle-antiparticle pairs. This phenomenon is particularly important in particle physics,…
We discuss continuous and discrete sectors in the collective field theory of $d=1$ matrix models. A canonical Lorentz invariant field theory extension of collective field theory is presented and its classical solutions in Euclidean and…
Double Field Theory describes the NS-NS sector of string theory and lives on a doubled spacetime. The theory has a local gauge symmetry generated by a generalization of the Lie derivative for doubled coordinates. For the action to be…
We study with lattice techniques the localisation of gauge fields on domain wall defects in 2+1 dimensions, following a scenario originally proposed by Dvali and Shifman for 3+1 dimensions, based on confining dynamics in the bulk. We find…
String breaking is a central dynamical process in theories featuring confinement, where a string connecting two charges decays at the expense of the creation of new particle-antiparticle pairs. Here, we show that this process can also be…
We study confining strings in massive adjoint two-dimensional chromodynamics. Off-shell, as a consequence of zigzag formation, the resulting worldsheet theory provides a non-trivial dynamical realization of infinite quon statistics. Taking…
Fractional strings in the spectrum of states of open strings attached to a multiply wound D-brane is explained. We first describe the fractional string states in the low-energy effective theory where the topology of multiple winding is…
We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1) gauge field with gauge coupling g, there is a…
We determine the complete spacetime action to first order in $\alpha'$ for the massless fields of bosonic string theory compactified on a $d$-dimensional torus. A fully systematic procedure is developed that brings the action into a minimal…
In a certain kinematic limit, where the effects of spacetime curvature (and other background fields) greatly simplify, the light-cone gauge world-sheet action for a type IIB superstring on AdS_5 x S^5 reduces to that of a free field theory.…
We outline a method of relating the quantum effective action and the ground state wave function of a field theory. This method, along with a gauge-invariant mass term and the previously obtained vacuum wave function, is used to arrive at…
Confining strings in 4D are effective, thick strings describing the confinement phase of compact U(1) and, possibly, also non-Abelian gauge fields. We show that these strings are dual to the gauge fields, inasmuch as their perturbative…