Related papers: String Theory, the Dark Sector and the Hierarchy P…
In these lecture notes for the Les Houches School on Quantum Geometry I give an introductory overview of non-perturbative aspects of topological string theory. After a short summary of the perturbative aspects, I first consider the…
An overview is given of the way in which the unification program of particle physics has evolved into the proposal of superstring theory as a prime candidate for unifying quantum gravity with the other forces and particles of nature. A key…
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…
In this paper, we obtain two different static black string solutions by considering as sources axisymmetric dark matter distributions in 3+1 dimensions. These solutions tend asymptotically to the usual static and uncharged black string…
We comment on the relation between string theory and empirical science, grounding our discussion in cosmology, a subject with increasingly precise data in which this connection operates at several levels. It is important to take into…
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…
A discrete string theory --a theory of embeddings from ${\bf Z}\times {\bf Z}_C\to {\bf R}^D$, where $C$ is the number of components of the string-- is explored. The closure of the algebra of constraints (`${\bf Z}_C$-Virasoro algebra') is…
Large classes of non-supersymmetric string models equipped with standard-model features have been constructed, but very little of their phenomenology is known. Interestingly, their spectra exhibit scalar fields whose only couplings to…
In this paper we propose a dark matter model and study aspects of its phenomenology. Our model is based on a new dark matter sector with a U(1)' gauge symmetry plus a discrete symmetry added to the Standard Model of particle physics. The…
Motivated by astrophysical observations of excess electronic production in the galaxy, new theoretical models of the dark matter sector have been proposed in which the Standard model couples to the dark matter sector through an attractive…
An embedding of a unified dark sector model into string theory with the following features is proposed: The model-independent axion descending from the Kalb-Ramond 2-form field is identified with the dark-matter field, and the real part of…
String theory provides the only consistent framework so far that unifies all interactions including gravity. We discuss gravity and cosmology in string theory. Conventional notions from general relativity like geometry, topology etc. are…
In this thesis, two aspects of string theory are discussed, tensionless strings and supersymmetric sigma models. The equivalent to a massless particle in string theory is a tensionless string. Even almost 30 years after it was first…
By combining swampland conjectures with observational data, it was recently suggested that the cosmological hierarchy problem (i.e. the smallness of the dark energy in Planck units) could be understood as an asymptotic limit in field space,…
The two-dimensional model which emerges from low-energy considerations of string theory is written down. Solutions of this classical model are noted, including some examples which have nontrivial tachyon field. One such represents the…
We propose a framework where the string scale as well as all compact dimensions are at the electroweak scale $\sim$ TeV$^{-1}$. The weakness of gravity is attributed to the small value of the string coupling $g_s \sim 10^{-16}$, presumably…
We review our work on the minimal length uncertainty relation as suggested by perturbative string theory. We discuss simple phenomenological implications of the minimal length uncertainty relation and then argue that the combination of the…
The Higgs quartic coupling has now been indirectly measured at the electroweak scale. Assuming no new low-scale physics, its running is known and, together with gauge and Yukawa couplings, it is a crucial new piece of information…
We examine the two-dimensional spacetimes that emerge from string theory. We find all the solutions with no tachyons, and show that the only non-trivial solution is the black hole spacetime. We examine the role of duality in this picture.…
In this paper we discuss possible consequences of a manifestly non-commutative and $T$-duality covariant formulation of string theory on dark energy, when the correspondence between short distance (UV) and long distance (IR) physics is…