Related papers: TASI Lectures on Moonshine
The aim of these lectures is to give an introduction to several topics which lie at the intersection of string theory, gravity theory and gravity phenomenology. One successively reviews: (i) the "membrane" approach to the dissipative…
The cosmological constant and electroweak hierarchy problem have been a great inspiration for research. Nevertheless, the resolution of these two naturalness problems remains mysterious from the perspective of a low-energy effective field…
In this paper we relate umbral moonshine to the Niemeier lattices: the 23 even unimodular positive-definite lattices of rank 24 with non-trivial root systems. To each Niemeier lattice we attach a finite group by considering a naturally…
In these lectures we review the quantum physics of large Schwarzschild black holes. Hawking's information paradox, the theory of the stretched horizon and the principle of black hole complementarity are covered. We then discuss how the…
We continue the study of a relationship between the instanton expansion of the Seiberg-Witten (SW) prepotential of $D = 4$, ${\cal N }= 2$ $SU(2)$ SUSY gauge theory and the monstrous moonshine. Extending the previous results, we show for…
These notes provide a brief introduction to modern cosmology, focusing primarily on theoretical issues. Some attention is paid to aspects of potential interest to students of string theory, on both sides of the two-way street of…
We propose a conjecture that is a substantial generalization of the genus zero assertions in both Monstrous Moonshine and Modular Moonshine. Our conjecture essentially asserts that if we are given any homomorphism to the complex numbers…
This is an introduction to the properties of D-branes, topological defects in string theory on which string endpoints can live. D-branes provide a simple description of various nonperturbative objects required by string duality, and give…
Ramanujan influenced many areas of mathematics, but his work on q-series, on the growth of coefficients of modular forms, and on mock modular forms stands out for its depth and breadth of applications. I will give a brief overview of how…
These lectures cover aspects of solitons with focus on applications to the quantum dynamics of supersymmetric gauge theories and string theory. The lectures consist of four sections, each dealing with a different soliton. We start with…
String theory is canonically accompanied with a space-time interpretation which determines S-matrix-like observables, and connects to the standard physics at low energies in the guise of local effective field theory. Recently, we have…
The simplest string theory compactifications to 3D with 16 supercharges -- the heterotic string on $T^7$, and type II strings on $K3 \times T^3$ -- are related by U-duality, and share a moduli space of vacua parametrized by $O(8,24;…
These lecture notes review the structure of anomalies and present some of their applications in field theory, string theory and M theory. They expand on material presented at the TASI 2003 summer school and the 2005 International Spring…
We briefly review the present status of string theory from the viewpoint of its implications on the short-distance space-time structure and black hole physics. Special emphases are given on two closely related issues in recent developments…
The past year has seen enormous progress in string theory. It has become clear that all of the different string theories are different limits of a single theory. Moreover, in certain limits, one obtains a new, eleven-dimensional structure…
We give some examples in which neglecting the interactions between particles or truncating the description of a black hole to the spherically symmetric mode leads to unphysical results. The restoration of the interactions and higher angular…
The Umbral Moonshine Conjectures assert that there are infinite-dimensional graded modules, for prescribed finite groups, whose McKay-Thompson series are certain distinguished mock modular forms. Gannon has proved this for the special case…
In this talk I review recent developments in superstring theory. In the first half of the talk I discuss some of the earlier developments in this subject. This includes a review of the status of string theory as a unified theory of gravity…
We review recent developments concerning supersymmetric black holes in string theory. After a general introduction to the laws of black hole mechanics and to black hole entropy in string theory, we discuss black hole solutions in N=2…
Solutions to low energy string theory describing black holes and black strings are reviewed. Many of these solutions can be obtained by applying simple solution generating transformations to the Schwarzschild metric. In a few cases, the…