Related papers: String theory as a Lilliputian world
It is shown that when the underlying sigma model of bosonic string theory is written in terms of single-valued fields, which live in the covering space of the target space, Abelian T-duality survives lattice regularization of the…
Regarding the current status of the superstring theory, despite its fully developed contents of all interactions in nature, it is no doubt that unfortunately it lacks a well established early universe cosmology content, that is, the…
Nonrelativistic string theory in flat spacetime is described by a two-dimensional quantum field theory with a nonrelativistic global symmetry acting on the worldsheet fields. Nonrelativistic string theory is unitary, ultraviolet complete…
If the results of the first LHC run are not betraying us, many decades of particle physics are culminating in a complete and consistent theory for all non-gravitational physics: the Standard Model. But despite this monumental achievement…
We revisit the construction of the tensionless limit of closed bosonic string theory in the covariant formulation in the light of Galilean conformal symmetry that rises as the residual gauge symmetry on the tensionless worldsheet. We relate…
This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six decades of…
The tensionless limit of the free bosonic string is space-time conformally symmetric classically. Requiring invariance of the quantum theory in the light cone gauge tests the reparametrization symmetry needed to fix this gauge. The full…
We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…
The decay constant of the QCD axion is required by observation to be small compared to the Planck scale. In theories of "natural inflation," and certain proposed anthropic solutions of the cosmological constant problem, it would be…
This elementary introduction to string field theory highlights the features and the limitations of this approach to quantum gravity as it is currently understood. String field theory is a formulation of string theory as a field theory in…
The string equivalent of a massless particle ($m=0$) is the tensionless string ($T=0$). The study of such strings is of interest when trying to understand the high energy limit of ordinary strings. I discuss the classical $T\to 0$ limit of…
We examine, in the context of certain string compactifications resulting in five dimensional brane worlds the mechanisms of (self) tuning of the cosmological constant and the recovery of standard cosmological evolution. We show that self…
We show that the $c=1$ bosonic string theory at finite temperature has two matrix-model realizations related by a kind of duality transformation. The first realization is the standard one given by the compactified matrix quantum mechanics…
We construct a new model of four-dimensional relativistic strings with integrable dynamics on the worldsheet. In addition to translational modes this model contains a single massless pseudoscalar worldsheet field - the worldsheet axion. The…
We investigate the generic distribution of bosonic and fermionic states at all mass levels in non-supersymmetric string theories, and find that a hidden ``misaligned supersymmetry'' must always appear in the string spectrum. We show that…
We consider string theory in maximally supersymmetric type IIB plane wave background with constant five form Ramond-Ramond flux (RR plane wave). It is argued that there exists a universal sector of string configurations independent of the…
We determine the most general form of the antisymmetric $H$-field tensor derived from a purely time-dependent potential that is admitted by all possible spatially homogeneous cosmological models in 3+1-dimensional low-energy bosonic string…
We conjecture that the end point of bulk closed string tachyon decay at any non-zero coupling, is the annihilation of space time by Witten's bubble of nothing, resulting in a topological phase of the theory. In support of this we present a…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. As a result, one might despair of making any statements about the theory. In the framework of a set of clearly spelled out assumptions, we show that this is not…
The study of discrete gauge symmetries in field theory and string theory is often carried out by embedding them into continuous symmetries. Many symmetries however do not seem to admit such embedding, for instance discrete isometries given…