Related papers: TASI Lectures on Remnants from the String Landscap…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
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…
We propose a refinement of the physical picture describing different vacua in bosonic string theory. The vacua with closed strings and open strings are connected by the string field theory version of the Higgs mechanism, generalizing the…
In light of recent discussions of the string landscape, it is essential to understand the degree to which string theory is predictive. We argue that it is unlikely that the landscape as a whole will exhibit unique correlations amongst…
Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered an unexpectedly large abundance of massive, UV-bright galaxies at high redshifts, presenting a significant challenge to established galaxy formation models within…
I argue that the ten dimensional non--supersymmetric tachyonic superstrings may serve as good starting points for the construction of viable phenomenological vacua. Thus, enlarging the space of possible solutions that may address some of…
Working within the context of the strongly coupled $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string theory, we analyze the $B-L$ MSSM, a realistic supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, from both a low-energy phenomenology and high-energy string…
We investigate the peculiar velocity field due to long cosmic strings in several cosmological models and analyse the influence of a nonscaling behaviour of the string network, which is expected in open cosmological models or models with a…
Tadpoles accompany, in one form or another, all attempts to realize supersymmetry breaking in String Theory, making the present constructions at best incomplete. Whereas these tadpoles are typically large, a closer look at the problem from…
The possible existence of an exponentially large number of vacua in string theory behooves one to consider possibilities beyond our traditional notions of naturalness. Such an approach to electroweak physics was recently used in "Split…
We provide an overview of the string landscape and the Swampland program. Our review of the string landscape covers the worldsheet and spacetime perspectives, including vacua and string dualities. We then review and motivate the Swampland…
While LHC has discovered a very Standard Model-like Higgs boson of mass m_h~ 125 GeV, no solid signal for physics beyond the Standard Model has emerged so far at LHC or at WIMP seach experiments. For the case of weak scale supersymmetry…
Point particles fall freely along geodesics; strings do not. In string theory all probes of spacetime structure, including photons, are extended objects and therefore always subject to tidal forces. We illustrate how string theory modifies…
In these lectures I discuss the possibility that superstrings of cosmic length might exist and be observable. I first review the original idea of cosmic strings arising as gauge theory solitons, and discuss in particular their network…
These lectures are devoted to introducing some of the basic features of quantum geometry that have been emerging from compactified string theory over the last couple of years. The developments discussed include new geometric features of…
It is becoming increasingly clear that metastable vacua may play a prominent role in supersymmetry-breaking. To date, however, this idea has been realized only in models where non-perturbative dynamics complicates the analysis of…
These lectures present some topics of string phenomenology and contain two parts. In the first part, I review the possibility of lowering the string scale in the TeV region, that provides a theoretical framework for solving the mass…
Three subjects are considered here: a self-dual non-critical string that appears in Type IIB superstring theory at points in ${\rm K3}$ moduli space where the Type IIA theory has extended gauge symmetry; a conformal field theory singularity…
Superstring theory, models with extra dimensions and other SUSY models generically predict that the coupling constants are in fact vacuum expectation values of fields like the dilaton, moduli etc. Assuming some of these fields are light…
The breaking of $U(1)_R$ symmetry plays a crucial role in modeling the breaking of supersymmetry (SUSY). In the models that possess both SUSY preserving and SUSY breaking vacua, tube-like cosmic strings called R-tubes, whose surfaces are…