Related papers: Reflections on an M-theoretic Emergence Proposal

The physical motivations and the basic construction rules for Type I strings and M-theory compactifications are reviewed in light of the recent developments. The first part contains the basic theoretical ingredients needed for building…

This review summarizes the recent developments in topological string theory from the author's perspective, mostly focused on aspects of research in which the author is involved. After a brief overview of the theory, we discuss two aspects…

The talk contains a brief introduction string theory, followed by a discussion of some of the recent developments.

We propose a simple, well-motivated and robust alternative to a metastable de Sitter vacuum in string theory, consistent with current observations of dark energy and naturally satisfying conjectured swampland constraints. Inflation ends in…

This papers aims at revisiting Minkowski space-time with a modified outlook and making it more consistent (III.8). The paper scrutinizes the special case of relativistic hypothesis (STR). The paper tries to solve the problems faced by…

We study consistency conditions on a M(atrix)-model which would describe M-theory on $T^6$. We argue that there is a limit in moduli space for which it becomes a 6+1D theory and study the low-energy description of extended objects in the…

The status of string theory is reviewed, and major recent developments - especially those in going beyond perturbation theory in the string theory and quantum field theory frameworks - are discussed. This analysis helps better understand…

The recent developments in string theory suggest that the space-time coordinates should be generalized to non-commuting matrices. Postulating this suggestion as the fundamental geometrical principle, we formulate a candidate for covariant…

These lectures intend to give a pedagogical introduction into some of the developments in string theory during the last years. They include perturbative T-duality and non perturbative S- and U-dualities, their unavoidable demand for…

This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six decades of…

There have been many attempts to construct de Sitter space-times in string theory. While arguably there have been some successes, this has proven challenging, leading to the de Sitter swampland conjecture: quantum theories of gravity do not…

This brief review, intended for high energy and astrophysics researchers, explores the implications of recent theoretical advances in string theory and the Swampland program for understanding bounds on the structure of positive potentials…

In this recent Letter [1], we studied the implications of string Swampland conjectures for quintessence models of dark energy. A couple of days ago, a paper appeared [2] which refers to our work but misrepresents what we have done. Here, we…

This is one of two papers about emergence, reduction and supervenience. It expounds these notions and analyses the general relations between them. The companion paper analyses the situation in physics, especially limiting relations between…

I begin to develop a framework for emergence in the physical sciences. Namely, I propose to explicate ontological emergence in terms of the notion of 'novel reference', and of an account of interpretation as a map from theory to world. I…

The cosmic string theory for cosmological fluctuations is a good example of healthy scientific progress in cosmology. It is a well defined physically motivated model that has been tested by cosmological observations and has been ruled out…

Using as a springboard a three-way debate between theoretical physicist Lee Smolin, philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright and myself, I address in layman's terms the issues of why we need a unified theory of the fundamental interactions…

The discovery of the string theory landscape has recently brought attention to the eternal nature of inflation. In contrast to the common belief that eternal inflation may be a generic feature of most inflationary models, in this note we…

We propose an alternative refined de Sitter conjecture. It is given by a natural condition on a combination of the first and second derivatives of the scalar potential. We derive our conjecture in the same weak coupling, semi-classical…

The claim that life is an emergent phenomenon exhibiting novel properties and principles is often criticized for being in conflict with causal closure at the microscopic level. I argue that advances in cosmological theory suggesting an…