Related papers: String Geometry Theory and The String Vacuum
We uncover a remarkable role that an infinite hierarchy of non-linear differential equations plays in organizing and connecting certain {hat c}<1 string theories non-perturbatively. We are able to embed the type 0A and 0B (A,A) minimal…
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…
I briefly summarize a recent research program aiming to probe the landscape of low-energy phases of string theory from a global perspective. Borrowing conceptual lessons from the swampland program, I will discuss how the effective theories…
This article provides some historical background and then reviews developments in string theory over the last twenty-five years or so. Both perturbative and non-perturbative approaches to string theory are surveyed and their impact on how…
The main limitations of string field theory arise because its present formulation requires a background representing a classical solution, a background defined by a strictly conformally invariant theory. Here we sketch a construction for a…
String field theory is a candidate for a full non-perturbative definition of string theory. We aim to define string field theory on a space-time lattice to investigate its behaviour at the quantum level. Specifically, we look at string…
A connection between non-perturbative formulations of quantum gravity and perturbative string theory is exhibited, based on a formulation of the non-perturbative dynamics due to Markopoulou. In this formulation the dynamics of spin network…
We consider, in a string theory framework, physical processes of phenomenological interest in models with a low string scale. The amplitudes we study involve tree-level virtual gravitational exchange, divergent in a field-theoretical…
String field theory is supposed to stand to perturbative string theory as quantum field theory stands to single-particle quantum theory; as such, it purports to offer a substantially more general and powerful perspective on string theory…
As of today there exist consistent, gauge-invariant string field theories describing all string theories: bosonic open and closed strings, open superstrings, heterotic strings and type II strings. The construction of these theories require…
The suggestion that there exist causally disconnected universes or sub-universes to explain the values of physical parameters such as the cosmological constant is discussed. A statistical model of the string landscape/topography is…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
It has recently been proposed that vacuum energy is zero in spite of the quantum-field fluctuations that occur everywhere, even at absolute zero. The implication is that dark energy must have a different origin, unrelated to vacuum energy.…
We propose a new guiding principle for phenomenology: special geometry in the vacuum space. New algorithmic methods which efficiently compute geometric properties of the vacuum space of N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories are described. We…
The tensionless limit of classical string theory may be formulated as a topological theory on the world-sheet. A vector density carries geometrical information in place of an internal metric. It is found that path-integral quantization…
One of the leading candidates for quantum gravity, viz. string theory, has the following features incorporated in it. (i) The full spacetime is higher dimensional, with (possibly) compact extra-dimensions; (ii) There is a natural minimal…
We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1) gauge field with gauge coupling g, there is a…
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 ST within the broader context of six decades of failed attempts…
Nonrelativistic string theory is described by a sigma model with a relativistic worldsheet and a nonrelativistic target spacetime geometry, that is called string Newton-Cartan geometry. In this paper we obtain string Newton-Cartan geometry…
We review various aspects of de Sitter spacetime in string theory: its status as an effective field theory spacetime solution, its relation to the vacuum energy problem in string theory, its (global) holographic definition in terms of two…