Related papers: String theory in twistor space and minimal tension…
The worldsheet string theory dual to free 4d ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory was recently proposed in arXiv:2104.08263. It is described by a free field sigma model on the twistor space of ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$, and is a direct…
String Theory includes a plethora of higher-spin excitations, which clearly lie behind its most spectacular properties, but whose detailed behavior is largely unknown. Conversely, string interactions contain much useful information on…
We show that Type IIB string theory on AdS_3 X S^3 X M_4 with p units of NS flux contains an integrable subsector, isomorphic to the minimal (p,1) bosonic string. To this end, we construct a topological string theory with target space…
We consider the application of twistor theory to five-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The twistor space of AdS$_5$ is the same as the ambitwistor space of the four-dimensional conformal boundary; the geometry of this correspondence is…
We investigate the field theory of strings having as a target space an arbitrary discrete one-dimensional manifold. The existence of the continuum limit is guaranteed if the target space is a Dynkin diagram of a simply laced Lie algebra or…
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…
Non-linear sigma models defined on symmetric target spaces have a wide set of applications in modern physics, including the description of string propagation in symmetric spaces, such as AdS or dS, or minimal surfaces in hyperbolic spaces.…
We present a perturbative derivation of the T-system that is believed to encode the exact spectrum of planar N=4 SYM. The T-system is understood as an operator identity between some special line operators, the quantum transfer matrices. By…
We show that, at the classical level, the recently proposed `ambitwistor string' model is equivalent to the spinor moving frame formulation of null-supersting, which in its turn is equivalent to Siegel's formulation of closed twistor string…
A class of non-supersymmetric string backgrounds can be constructed using twists that involve space-time fermion parity. We propose a non-perturbative definition of string theory in these backgrounds via gauge theories with supersymmetry…
A topological sigma model based on the pure spinor formalism was recently proposed for the small radius limit of the AdS_5xS^5 superstring. Physical states in this model can be constructed by connecting holes on the worldsheet with Wilson…
Recently, a new framework for solving the hierarchy problem has been proposed which does not rely on low energy supersymmetry or technicolor. The gravitational and gauge interactions unite at the electroweak scale, and the observed weakness…
We find an intriguing link between the symmetries of the tensionless limit of closed string theory and the 2-dimensional Galilean Conformal Algebra (2d GCA). 2d GCA has been discussed in the context of the non-relativistic limit of AdS/CFT…
We reformulate the twistor construction for hyper- and quaternion-K\"ahler manifolds, introducing new sigma models that compute scalar potentials for the geometry. These sigma models have the twistor space of the quaternionic manifold as…
We discuss semiclassical quantization of closed superstrings in AdS_5 x S^5. We consider two basic examples: point-like string boosted along large circle of S^5 and folded string rotating in AdS_5. In the first case we clarify the general…
In the first part of this dissertation, we study two different aspects of string phenomenology. First we discuss the complementary signals of low mass superstrings at the proposed electron-positron facilities (ILC and CLIC), in e+e- and…
The flat/CFT dictionary between the bulk gravitational theory and boundary conformal field theory is systematically developed in this paper. Asymptotically flat spacetime is built up by asymptotically AdS hyperboloid slices in terms of…
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…
We study the dynamics of 2d fermions coupled to 3d Chern-Simons gauge fields. For $SU(N)$ gauge group and fermions in the fundamental representation, the resulting interfaces are closely related to $W_N$ minimal models. We give an…
We study the holographic description of string theory in a plane wave spacetime by taking the Penrose limit of the usual AdS/CFT correspondence. We consider three-point functions with two BMN operators and one non-BMN operator; the latter…