Related papers: A Note on Classical Aspects of the Four Dimensiona…
This is a set of lectures on the gauge/string duality and non-critical strings, with a particular emphasis on the discretized, or matrix model, approach. After a general discussion of various points of view, I describe the recent…
The twistor construction is applied for obtaining examples of generalized complex structures (in the sense of N. Hitchin) that are not induced by a complex or a symplectic structure.
We investigate the relationship between conformal and spin structure on lorentzian manifolds and see how their compatibility influences the formulation of rigid supersymmetric field theories. In dimensions three, four, six and ten, we show…
We suggest that the universe filled with unstable D-branes in their rolling tachyon vacuum state, described by periodic arrays of D-instantons along the imaginary time direction, may be a natural background for formulating string theory.…
We consider quantum field theory in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, with the position coordinates represented by twistors instead of the usual world-vectors. Upon imposing canonical commutation relations between twistors and dual…
In this Thesis we investigate properties of stability, rigidity and unitarity of the string landscape in ten and lower dimensions. The dissertation explores these aspects by intertwining a detailed analysis of string vacua, with and without…
The existence of non-singular string cosmologies is established in a class of two-dimensional supersymmetric Hybrid models at finite temperature. The left-moving sector of the Hybrid models gives rise to 16 real (N_4=4) spacetime…
Neveu-Schwarz-Ramond type heterotic and type-II superstrings in four dimensional curved space-time are constructed as exact $N=1$ superconformal theories. The tachyon is eliminated with a GSO projection. The theory is based on the N=1…
We present the evidence for two conjectures related to the twistor string. The first conjecture states that two super-Calabi Yaus -- the supertwistor space and the superambitwistor space -- form a mirror pair. The second conjecture is that…
We construct cosmological spacetimes with null Kasner-like singularities as purely gravitational solutions with no other background fields turned on. These can be recast as anisotropic plane-wave spacetimes by coordinate transformations. We…
Spin networks, the quantum states of discrete geometry in loop quantum gravity, are directed graphs whose links are labeled by irreducible representations of SU(2), or spins. Cosmic strings are 1-dimensional topological defects carrying…
We discuss chiral zero-rest-mass field equations on six-dimensional space-time from a twistorial point of view. Specifically, we present a detailed cohomological analysis, develop both Penrose and Penrose-Ward transforms, and analyse the…
We propose a twistor--like formulation of N=1, D=3,4,6 and 10 null superstrings. The model possesses N=1 target space supersymmetry and n=D-2 local worldsheet supersymmetry, the latter replaces the kappa-symmetry of the conventional…
Gravitational waves with a space-translation Killing field are considered. In this case, the 4-dimensional Einstein vacuum equations are equivalent to the 3-dimensional Einstein equations with certain matter sources. This interplay between…
The twistor superstring, which describes N=4 super Yang-Mills trees, is taken off-shell (for loops) by generalizing Penrose twistors (which describe on-shell momenta) to Atiyah-Drinfel'd-Hitchin-Manin twistors (which include the usual…
Nonrelativistic string theory is a self-contained corner of string theory, with its string spectrum enjoying a Galilean-invariant dispersion relation. This theory is unitary and ultraviolet complete, and can be studied from first…
Symmetry transformations of the space-time fields of string theory are generated by certain similarity transformations of the stress-tensor of the associated conformal field theories. This observation is complicated by the fact that, as we…
We derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a Killing spinor in N=(1,0) gauge supergravity in six dimensions coupled to a single tensor multiplet, vector multiplets and hypermultiplets. These are shown to imply…
Gauge-invariant twistor variables are found for the massive spinning particle with N-extended local worldline supersymmetry, in spacetime dimensions D=3,4,6. The twistor action is manifestly Lorentz invariant but the anticommuting spin…
Broadly speaking, twistor theory is a framework for encoding physical information on space-time as geometric data on a complex projective space, known as a twistor space. The relationship between space-time and twistor space is non-local…