Related papers: Tensionless Tales of Compactification
In this thesis, we consider heterotic string vacua based on a warped product of a four-dimensional domain wall and a six-dimensional internal manifold preserving only two supercharges. Thus, they correspond to half-BPS states of heterotic…
Amidst all candidates of physics beyond the Standard Model, string theory provides a unique proposal for incorporating gauge and gravitational interactions. In string theory, a four-dimensional theory that unifies quantum mechanics and…
We discuss the singularities in the moduli space of string compactifications to six dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. Such singularities arise from either massless particles or non-critical tensionless strings. The points with…
In the framework of the compactified closed bosonic string theory with the extra spatial coordinates being circular with radius $R$, we perform both the zero-slope limit and the $R \rightarrow 0$ limit of the tree scattering amplitude of…
We investigate the behaviour of the bosonic string on AdS3 with H-flux at stringy scales, looking in particular for a `tensionless' limit in which there are massless higher spin gauge fields. We do this by revisiting the physical spectrum…
A bubble of nothing is a spacetime instability where a compact dimension collapses. After nucleation, it expands at the speed of light, leaving "nothing" behind. We argue that the topological and dynamical mechanisms which could protect a…
We study compactifications of the $N=2$ 6D tensionless string on various complex two-folds down to two-dimensions. In the IR limit they become non-trivial conformal field theories in 2D. Using results of Vafa and Witten on the partition…
The boundary conditions of the bosonic string theory in non-zero $B$-field background are equivalent to the second class constraints of a discretized version of the theory. By projecting the original canonical coordinates onto the…
We report on progress in formulating a field theory of tensionless strings in $AdS_3$, starting from the dual large-$N$ symmetric orbifold CFT. We propose a set of field equations which are gauge invariant under the higher spin algebra of…
We continue the investigation into non-maximally symmetric compactifications of the heterotic string. In particular, we consider compactifications where the internal space is allowed to depend on two or more external directions. For…
We study the space-time invariances of the bosonic relativistic particle and bosonic relativistic string using general formulations obtained by incorporating the Hamiltonian constraints into the formalism. We point out that massless…
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…
It has been argued by Ishikawa and Kato that by making use of a specific bosonization, $c_M=1$ string theory can be regarded as a constrained topological sigma model. We generalize their construction for any $(p,q)$ minimal model coupled to…
We study the possibility that the vacuum energy density of scalar and internal-space gauge fields arising from the process of dimensional reduction of higher dimensional gravity theories plays the role of quintessence. We show that, for the…
We discuss compactifications of the heterotic string in the presence of background fluxes. Specifically we consider compactifications on T^6, T^5, K3 x T^2 and K3 x S^1 for which we derive the bosonic sector of the low energy effective…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of having quantum fields living in a space with compactified dimensions. We will show that the equation of state is not modified by topological effects and so the dynamics of the universe remains…
Motivated by recent discussions of the string-theory landscape, we propose field-theoretic realizations of models with large numbers of vacua. These models contain multiple U(1) gauge groups, and can be interpreted as deconstructed versions…
A method of constructing a canonical gauge invariant quantum formulation for a non-gauge classical theory depending on a set of parameters is advanced and then applied to the theory of closed bosonic string interacting with massive…
We present the mass spectrum of the tensionless string in 2 dimensions where it has been found that the space time conformal symmetry survives quantization. A BRST treatment of the physical states reveals that the string collapses into a…
The simplest toroidally compactified string theories exhibit a duality between large and small radii: compactification on a circle, for example, is invariant under R goes to 1/R. Compactification on more general Lorentzian lattices (i.e.…