Related papers: The Breakdown of String Perturbation Theory for Ma…
We derive a perturbative expansion for space time entanglement entropy in string theory by comparing replica trick constructions on the target space and on the worldsheet. Requiring the two approaches to match implies a set of constrains on…
It is argued that the complete S-matrix of string theory at tree level in a flat background can be obtained from a small set of target space properties, without recourse to the worldsheet description. The main non-standard inputs are…
Nonperturbative effects in c<1 noncritical string theory are studied using the two-matrix model. Such effects are known to have the form fixed by the string equations but the numerical coefficients have not been known so far. Using the…
Even at tree level, the first quantized string theory suffers from apparent short distance singularities associated with collision of vertex operators that prevent us from straightforward numerical computation of various quantities.…
A class of non-supersymmetric string backgrounds can be constructed using twists that involve space-time fermion parity. We propose a non-perturbative definition of string theory in these backgrounds via gauge theories with supersymmetry…
These four lectures, addressed to an audience of graduate students in experimental high energy physics, survey some of the basic concepts in string theory. The purpose is to convey a general sense of what string theory is and what it has…
The recently introduced anomaly-free twistor string in 4 dimensions is further explored. The spectrum based on the physical states and its Minkowski interpretation are examined. Scattering amplitudes with vertex operators involving…
String theory avoids the ultraviolet infinities that arise in trying to quantize gravity. It is also more predictive than conventional quantum field theory, one aspect of this being the way that it contributed to the emergence of the…
In this paper, we study the newly discovered universal splitting behavior for tree-level scattering amplitudes of particles and strings~\cite{Cao:2024gln}: when a set of Mandelstam variables (and Lorentz products involving polarizations for…
Supersymmetry breaking in string theory is expected to occur when moduli fields acquire non-trivial expectation values. In the early universe these fields start out displaced from their final destinations. I present some recent ideas about…
Currently, string theory represents the only advanced approach to a unification of all interactions, including gravity. In spite of the more than thirty years of its existence it did not make any empirically testable predictions. And it is…
We uncover a remarkable role that an infinite hierarchy of non-linear differential equations plays in organizing and connecting certain {hat c}<1 string theories non-perturbatively. We are able to embed the type 0A and 0B (A,A) minimal…
A rigorous theory of electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering by small perfectly conducting particles is developed. The limiting case when the number of particles tends to infinity is discussed.
We consider a procedure for directly constructing general tree-level four-particle scattering amplitudes of massive spinning particles that are consistent with the usual requirements of Lorentz invariance, unitarity, crossing symmetry, and…
At the tree level, the scattering processes involving open and closed strings are described by a disk world-sheet with vertex operator insertions at the boundary and in the bulk. Such amplitudes can be decomposed as certain linear…
We identify string corrections to the EM memory effect. Though largely negligible in the low-energy limit, the effect become relevant in high-energy collisions and in extreme events. We illustrate our findings in a simple unoriented bosonic…
At its very beginning, the universe is believed to have grown exponentially in size via the mechanism of inflation. The almost scale-invariant density perturbation spectrum predicted by inflation is strongly supported by cosmological…
After briefly reviewing basic concepts of perturbative string theory, we explain in simple terms some of the new findings that created excitement among the string physicists. These developments include non-perturbative dualities and a…
We define string geometry: spaces of superstrings including the interactions, their topologies, charts, and metrics. Trajectories in asymptotic processes on a space of strings reproduce the right moduli space of the super Riemann surfaces…
Perturbative estimates suggest that extended topological defects such as cosmic strings emit few particles, but numerical simulations of the fields from which they are constructed suggest the opposite. In this paper we study the decay of…