Related papers: Wilsonian Effective Field Theory and String Theory
Bekenstein has proposed the bound S < pi M_P^2 L^2 on the total entropy S in a volume L^3. This non-extensive scaling suggests that quantum field theory breaks down in large volume. To reconcile this breakdown with the success of local…
The cosmological constant problem is turned around to argue for a new foundational physics postulate underlying a consistent quantum theory of gravity and matter, such as string theory. This postulate is a quantum equivalence principle…
Cosmic (super)strings offer promising ways to test ideas about the early universe and physics at high energies. While in field theory constructions their tension is usually assumed to be constant (or at most slowly-varying), this is often…
We study the renormalization of non-commutative gauge theories with matter. As in the scalar field theory cases, there are logarithmic infrared divergences resulting from integrating out high momentum modes. In order to reproduce the…
The four-dimensional superstring solutions define at low energy effective supergravity theories. A class of them extends successfully the validity of the standard model up to the string scale (${\cal O}(10^{17})~TeV$). We stress the…
The decay constant of the QCD axion is required by observation to be small compared to the Planck scale. In theories of "natural inflation," and certain proposed anthropic solutions of the cosmological constant problem, it would be…
We consider decoupling in the context of an effective quantum field theory of two scalar fields with well separated mass scales and a $Z_2\times Z_2$ symmetry. We first prove, using Wilson's exact renormalization group equation, that the…
This talk surveys a broad range of applications of quantum field theory, as well as some recent developments. The stress is on the notion of effective field theories. Topics include implications of neutrino mass and a possible small value…
The transcendental expectation of string theory is that the nature of the fundamental forces, particle spectra and masses, together with coupling constants, is uniquely determined by mathematical and logical consistency, non-empirically,…
A truncation of string field theory is compared with the duality invariant effective action of $D=4, N=4$ heterotic strings to cubic order. The three string vertex must satisfy a set of compatibility conditions. Any cyclic three string…
I discuss cosmological models either derived from, or inspired by, string theory or M-theory. In particular I discuss solutions in the low-energy effective theory and the role of the dilaton, moduli and antisymmetric form fields in the…
Singularity-free cosmological solutions may be obtained from the string action at tree level if the dimension of the space-time is greater than 10 and if brane configurations are taken into account. The behaviour of the dilaton field in…
We review recent work in which compactifications of string and M theory are constructed in which all scalar fields (moduli) are massive, and supersymmetry is broken with a small positive cosmological constant, features needed to reproduce…
In this work, we investigate the properties of string effective theories with scalar field(s) and a scalar potential. We first claim that in most examples known, such theories are multifield, with at least 2 non-compact field directions;…
We construct a string field Hamiltonian describing the dynamics of open and closed strings with effective target-space dimension $c\le 1 $. In order to do so, we first derive the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the underlying large $N$…
Progress in string theory has resulted in a whole landscape of vacua solutions.In this talk I describe a proposal for exploring the cosmological implications of the landscape, based on the dynamics of the wavefunction of the universe…
Motivated by the observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect in graphene, we consider the effective field theory of relativistic quantum Hall states. We find that, beside the Chern-Simons term, the effective action also contains a…
String field theories exhibit exponential suppression of interactions among the component fields at high energies due to infinite-derivative factors such as $e^{\ell^2 \Box / 2}$ in the vertices. This nonlocality has hindered the…
We revisit the effective field theory of long relativistic strings such as confining flux tubes in QCD. We derive the Polchinski-Strominger interaction by a calculation in static gauge. This interaction implies that a non-critical string…
In this Letter, we study the implications of string Swampland criteria for dark energy in view of ongoing and future cosmological observations. If string theory should be the ultimate quantum gravity theory, there is evidence that exact de…