Related papers: Modular invariance, misalignment and finiteness in…

This Thesis discusses a number of issues related to the problem of tadpoles and vacuum redefinitions that the breaking of supersymmetry brings about in String Theory. The idea pursued here is to try to formulate the theory in a ``wrong''…

We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…

We review the main results of our investigations motivated by the tadpole potentials of ten-dimensional strings with broken supersymmetry. While these are at best partial indications, it is hard to resist the feeling that they do capture…

Recently a number of analytic prescriptions for computing the non-linear matter power spectrum have appeared in the literature. These typically involve resummation or closure prescriptions which do not have a rigorous error control, thus…

The focus of this thesis is on (1) the role of Ka\v c-Moody (KM) algebras in string theory and the development of techniques for systematically building string theory models based on higher level ($K\geq 2$) KM algebras and (2) fractional…

We construct type I string models with supersymmetry broken by compactification that are non-tachyonic and have exponentially small effective potential at one-loop. All open string moduli can be stabilized, while the closed string moduli…

We investigate the role played by symmetries in the perturbative expansion of the large-scale structure. In particular, we establish which of the coefficients of the perturbation theory kernels are dictated by symmetries and which not. Up…

We review the status of duality symmetries in superstring theories. These discrete symmetries mark the striking differences between theories of pointlike objects and theories of extended objects. They prove to be very helpful in…

Grand unified theories can admit cosmic strings with fermion zero modes. Such zero modes result in the string being current-carrying and the formation of stable remnants, vortons. However, the string zero modes do not automaticall survive…

A class of non-supersymmetric string backgrounds can be constructed using twists that involve space-time fermion parity. We propose a non-perturbative definition of string theory in these backgrounds via gauge theories with supersymmetry…

We derive stringy symmetries with conserved charges of arbitrarily high spins from the decoupling of two types of zero-norm states in the old covariant first quantized (OCFQ) spectrum of open bosonic string. These symmetries are valid to…

We construct non-supersymmetric type I string models which correspond to consistent flat-space solutions of all classical equations of motion. Moreover, the one-loop vacuum energy is naturally fixed by the size of compact extra dimensions…

We describe exact cosmological solutions with rotation and expansion in the low-energy effective string theory. These models are spatially homogeneous (closed Bianchi type IX) and they belong to the family of shear-free metrics which are…

We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0 (super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions (exactly…

Recent work has made clear that we have far more control over the dynamics of supersymmetric than non-supersymmetric theories. Here, I discuss some issues in dynamical supersymmetry breaking both in ordinary field theory and in string…

We make a number of conjectures about the geometry of continuous moduli parameterizing the string landscape. In particular we conjecture that such moduli are always given by expectation value of scalar fields and that moduli spaces with…

We show that a pair of field theory monodromies in which the shift symmetry is broken by small, well motivated deformations, naturally incorporates a mechanism for cancelling off radiative corrections to the cosmological constant. The…

We discuss supersymmetry breaking mechanisms at the level of low energy N=1 effective heterotic superstring actions that exhibit $SL(2,Z)_T$ target space modular duality or $SL(2,Z)_S$ strong-weak coupling duality. The allowed…

Aspects of string cosmology for critical and non-critical strings are discussed emphasizing the necessity to account for the dilaton dynamics for a proper incorporation of ``large - small" duality. This drastically modifies the intuition…

Perturbative spectra and related factorization properties of one-loop open string amplitudes in the presence of a constant external background B are analysed in detail. While the pattern of the closed string spectrum, obtained after a…