Related papers: String Theory of Supertubes
In SO(32) heterotic string theory, the space-time at the core of N coincident NS-fivebranes is an infinite throat, R x S^3. As shown by Witten, the throat signals a singularity in the usual heterotic string conformal field theory and a…
This article, based on the Klein lecture, contains some new results and new speculations on various topics. They include discussion of open strings in the AdS space, unusual features of D-branes, conformal gauge theories in higher…
One of the main topics in the modern String Theory are the AdS/CFT dualities. Proving such conjectures is extremely difficult since the gauge and string theory perturbative regimes do not overlap. In this perspective, the discovery of…
String theory on curved backgrounds has received much attention on account of both its own interest, and of its relation with gauge theories. Despite the progress made in various directions, several quite elementary questions remain…
We study M/D-branes in a null-brane background. By taking a near horizon limit, one is left with cosmological models in the corresponding Poincar\'e patches. To deal with their usual horizons, we either extend these models to global AdS or…
The static stationary axially symmetric background ("infinite cosmic string") of the $D=4$ string theory provided with an axion charge is studied in the effective theory approach. The most general exact solution is constructed. It is found…
Using the AdS/CFT correspondence we study the holographic principle and the CFT/FRW relations in the near-horizon AdS(5)xS(5) geometry with a probe D3-brane playing the role of the boundary to this space. The motion of the probe D3-brane in…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
A two-dimensional (2D) scalar-tensor gravity theory is used to describe the near-horizon near-extremal behavior of black 3-branes solutions of type IIB string theory. The asymptotic symmetry group of the 2D, asymptotically anti de Sitter…
We describe in detail how the spectrum of a single anti-D3-brane in four-dimensional orientifolded IIB string models reproduces precisely the field content of a nilpotent chiral superfield with the only physical component corresponding to…
Using exact boundary conformal field theory methods we analyze the D-brane physics of a specific four-dimensional non-critical superstring theory which involves the N=2 SL(2)/U(1) Kazama-Suzuki model at level 1. Via the holographic duality…
The recent proposal on the correspondence between the ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory and string theory in the Penrose limit of the AdS$_5\times$S$^5$ geometry involves a few puzzles from the viewpoint of holographic principle,…
We study a class of eight-supercharge little string theories (LSTs) on the world-volume of $N$ M5-branes with transverse space $\mathbb{S}^{1}\times (\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_M)$. These M-brane configurations compactified on a circle are…
Nonrelativistic (NR) string theory was discovered as a framework that underlies and unifies the various noncommutative open string (NCOS) theories, which were originally envisioned as surprising exceptions to the maxim that all string…
We overview the main configurations of D-brane probes in the AdS_5 x X^5 background of type IIB string theory (X^5 being a Sasaki-Einstein manifold), and examine their most salient features from the point of view of the dual quiver…
It was recently shown that the theory obtained by deforming a general two dimensional conformal theory by the irrelevant operator $T\bar T$ is solvable. In the context of holography, a large class of such theories can be obtained by…
We explore string/M-theory constructions of holographic theories with Lifshitz scaling exponent $z$ and hyperscaling violation exponent $\theta$, finding a range of $z,\theta$-values. Some of these arise as effective metrics from…
We argue for the existence of phase transitions in $3+1$ dimensions associated with the appearance of tensionless strings. The massless spectrum of this theory does not contain a graviton: it consists of one $N=2$ vector multiplet and one…
At zero temperature the Coulomb Branch of ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory is described in supergravity by multi-center solutions with D3-brane charge. At finite temperature and chemical potential the vacuum degeneracy is lifted, and…
We investigate the near-horizon limit of extremally rotating NS5-branes. The resulting geometry has SL(2,R) \times U(1)^2 isometry. The asymptotic symmetry group contains a chiral Virasoro algebra, and we obtain two different realizations…