Related papers: On Time-Dependent Backgrounds In 1+1 Dimensional S…
We review recent developments on nonrelativistic string theory. In flat spacetime, the theory is defined by a two-dimensional relativistic quantum field theory with nonrelativistic global symmetries acting on the worldsheet fields. This…
$S$-matrix formulation of gravity excludes de Sitter vacua. In particular, this is organic to string theory. The $S$-matrix constraint is enforced by an anomalous quantum break-time proportional to the inverse values of gravitational and/or…
We discuss the problem of introducing background spacetimes of the de Sitter type (quintessential backgrounds) in the context of fundamental theories involving supersymmetry. The role of a model presented in 1984, showing that these…
Spin Matrix theory (SMT) limits provide a way to capture the dynamics of the AdS/CFT correspondence near BPS bounds. On the string theory side, these limits result in non-relativistic sigma models that can be interpreted as novel…
Presently there is preliminary observational evidence that the cosmological constant might be non zero, and hence that our Universe is eternally accelerating (de Sitter). This poses fundamental problems for string theory, since a scattering…
We consider the question of asymptotic observables in cosmology. We assume that string theory contains a landscape of vacua, and that metastable de Sitter regions can decay to zero cosmological constant by bubble nucleation. The asymptotic…
We study the time-dependent tachyon backgrounds of the string collective field theory using the formalism of the $S$-matrix generating functional. In the process we clarify the connection between two ways of calculating the $S$-matrix, the…
We study the classical dynamics of a bosonic string in the $D$--dimensional flat Friedmann--Robertson--Walker and Schwarzschild backgrounds. We make a perturbative development in the string coordinates around a {\it null} string…
We study N=2 Liouville theory with arbitrary central charge in the presence of boundaries. After reviewing the theory on the sphere and deriving some important structure constants, we investigate the boundary states of the theory from two…
We obtain general bounds on scattering processes involving charged particles in 1+1 spacetime dimensions. After a general analysis we derive mostly numerical bounds on couplings in theories with $O(N)$ and $U(N)$ global symmetries. The…
In string theory the coupling ``constants'' appearing in the low-energy effective Lagrangian are determined by the vacuum expectation values of some (a priori) massless scalar fields (dilaton, moduli). This naturally leads one to expect a…
We determine the spectrum and correlation functions of Liouville theory with a central charge less than (or equal) one. This completes the definition of Liouville theory for all complex values of the central charge. The spectrum is always…
The Lagrangian constraint analysis of the selfdual massive spin 2 theory in a 2+1 dimensional flat space-time and its extension to a curved one, are performed. Demanding consistence of degrees of freedom in the model with gravitational…
We continue and extend our earlier investigation ``Strings in a Time-Dependent Orbifold'' (hep-th/0204168). We formulate conditions for an orbifold to be amenable to perturbative string analysis and classify the low dimensional orbifolds…
We show that $4$-dimensional Robertson-Walker spacetimes can be constructed for which all of the beta functions vanish to leading order, yielding consistent string theory without extra dimensions. We find that there is a unique static…
A state of an open quantum system is described by a density matrix, whose dynamics is governed by a Liouvillian superoperator. Within a general framework, we explore fundamental properties of both first-order dissipative phase transitions…
This is an introduction to the microscopic techniques of non-rational bulk and boundary conformal field theory which are needed to describe strings moving in non-compact curved backgrounds. The latter arise e.g. in the context of…
The observation of a scalar resonance at the LHC, compatible with perturbative electroweak symmetry breaking, reinforces the Standard Model parameterisation of all subatomic data. The logarithmic evolution of the SM gauge and matter…
There are (at least) two surfaces of particular interest in eternal de Sitter space. One is the timelike hypersurface constituting the lab wall of a static patch observer and the other is the future boundary of global de Sitter space. We…
We attempt to understand the fate of spacelike gravitational singularities in string theory via the quantum stress tensor for string matter in a fixed background. We first approximate the singularity with a homogeneous anisotropic…