Related papers: Perturbations in $\mathbf{O}(D,D)$ string cosmolog…
Non-geometric frames in string theory are related to the geometric ones by certain local O(D,D) transformations, the so-called $\beta$-transforms. For each such transformation, we show that there exists both a natural field redefinition of…
We study nonsingular cosmological scenarios in a general $D$-dimensional string effective action of the dilaton-modulus-axion system in the presence of the matter source. In the standard dilatonic Brans-Dicke parameter ($\omega=-1$) with…
We study the scattering of a massless and neutral test particle in the gravitational field of a body (the string star) made of a large number of scalar states of the superstring. We consider two cases, the one in which these states are…
Cuscuton Gravity is characterized as a scalar field that can be added to general relativity without introducing any new dynamical degrees of freedom on a cosmological background. Yet, it modifies gravity such that spacetime singularities…
It appears that string-M-theory is the only viable candidate for a complete theory of matter. It must therefore contain both gravity and QCD. What is particularly surprising is the recent conjecture that strongly coupled QCD matrix elements…
I consider a three-dimensional string theory whose action, besides the standard area term, contains one of the form $\int_{\Sigma} \epsilon_{\mu\nu\sigma} X^{\mu} d X^{\nu} \wedge d X^{\sigma}$. In the case of closed strings this extra term…
We demonstrate that string consistency in four spacetime dimensions leads to a spectrum of string states which satisfies the supertrace constraints Str(M^0)=0 and Str(M^2)=\Lambda at tree level, where \Lambda is the one-loop string…
In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
The universal character of the gravitational interaction provided by the equivalence principle motivates a geometrical description of gravity. The standard formulation of General Relativity \`a la Einstein attributes gravity to the…
String gas cosmology is rewritten in the Einstein frame. In an effective theory in which a gas of closed strings is coupled to a dilaton gravity background without any potential for the dilaton, the Hagedorn phase which is quasi-static in…
Some of the phenomenological implications of string cosmological models are reviewed, with particular attention to the spectra of the tensor, scalar and vector modes of the geometry. A class of self-dual string cosmological models is…
Starting with exact solutions to string theory on curved spacetimes we obtain deformations that represent gravitational shock waves. These may exist in the presence or absence of sources. Sources are effectively induced by a tachyon field…
This thesis considers two different aspects of string theory, the tensionless limit of the string and supersymmetric sigma models. The tensionless limit is used to find a IIB supergravity background generated by a tensionless string.…
We review O$(d,d)$ Covariant String Cosmology to all orders in $\alpha'$ in the presence of matter and study its solutions. We show that the perturbative analysis for a constant dilaton in the absence of a dilatonic charge does not lead to…
We present a method for parametrizing linear cosmological perturbations of theories of gravity, around homogeneous and isotropic backgrounds. The method is sufficiently general and systematic that it can be applied to theories with any…
We study density perturbations in several cosmological models motivated by string theory. The evolution and the spectra of curvature perturbations ${\cal R}$ are analyzed in the Ekpyrotic scenario and nonsingular string cosmologies. We find…
In recent development of double field theory, as for the description of the massless sector of closed strings, the spacetime dimension is formally doubled, i.e. from D to D+D, and the T-duality is realized manifestly as a global O(D,D)…
One of the clear predictions of string theory is the presence of a dynamical scalar partner of the spin-2 graviton, known as the dilaton. This will violate the Einstein Equivalence Principle, leading to a plethora of possibly observable…
In dilaton gravity theories, we consider a string-like topological defect formed during U(1) gauge symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe, and far from the cosmic string we have vacuum solutions of the generalized Einstein…
In this paper, we prove that the open and closed strings are $O(D,D)$ equivalent. The equivalence requires an AdS geometry near the boundaries. The $O(D,D)$ invariance is introduced into the Polyakov action by the Tseytlin's action.…