Related papers: Aspects of strings without spacetime supersymmetry
We study the restrictions imposed by cancellation of the tadpoles for two, three, and four-form gauge fields in string theory, M-theory and F-theory compactified to two, three and four dimensions, respectively. For a large class of…
We extend the analysis of Misaligned Supersymmetry to orientifold vacua. The lack of modular invariance in the Klein bottle, annulus and M\"obius strip amplitudes implies that the IR properties of the physical spectrum are related to the UV…
We construct non-supersymmetric AdS3 solutions of the O(16)xO(16) heterotic string. Most of the backgrounds have a classical worldsheet definition but are quantum string vacua in the sense that string loop corrections change the curvature…
Closed string tachyons have long been somewhat mysterious. We note that there is often a regime in the classical moduli space in which one can systematically compute the effective action for such fields. In this regime, the tachyon is…
A system of k Neveu-Schwarz (NS) 5-branes of type II string theory with one transverse direction compactified on a circle admits various unstable D-brane systems, - some with geometric instability arising out of being placed at a point of…
The classical black hole background of two-dimensional string theory is examined after including the effect of the tachyon field. Keeping all terms upto $O(T^2)$, and making no other approximations, the only consistent classical solution to…
It is well-known that Scherk-Schwarz compactifications in string theory have a tachyon in the closed string spectrum appearing for a critical value of a compact radius. The tachyon can be removed by an appropriate orientifold projection in…
There is evidence that string theory possesses a large discretuum of stable and/or metastable ground states, with zero or four supersymmetries in four dimensions. I discuss critically the nature of this evidence. Assuming this "landscape"…
We suggest that the universe filled with unstable D-branes in their rolling tachyon vacuum state, described by periodic arrays of D-instantons along the imaginary time direction, may be a natural background for formulating string theory.…
We consider string theory in maximally supersymmetric type IIB plane wave background with constant five form Ramond-Ramond flux (RR plane wave). It is argued that there exists a universal sector of string configurations independent of the…
We present a detailed analysis of non-supersymmetric spacetime varying string vacua which can lead to an exponential hierarchy between the electroweak and the gravitational scales. In particular, we identify a limit in which these vacua can…
This Thesis discusses a number of issues related to the problem of tadpoles and vacuum redefinitions that the breaking of supersymmetry brings about in String Theory. The idea pursued here is to try to formulate the theory in a ``wrong''…
We study string theory in supersymmetric time-dependent backgrounds. In the framework of general relativity, supersymmetry for spacetimes without flux implies the existence of a covariantly constant null vector, and a relatively simple form…
We analyze the backreaction of dilaton tadpoles on the geometry of non-supersymmetric strings. After finding explicit warped solutions for a T-dual version of the Sugimoto model, we examine the possibility of realizing large extra dimension…
Recent developments in string theory have reinforced the notion that the space of stable supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric string vacua fills out a ``landscape'' whose features are largely unknown. It is then hoped that progress in…
We show that tree level ``resonant'' $N$ tachyon scattering amplitudes, which define a sensible ``bulk'' S -- matrix in critical (super) string theory in any dimension, have a simple structure in two dimensional space time, due to partial…
We show that a tachyon condensate phase replaces the spacelike singularity in certain cosmological and black hole spacetimes in string theory. We analyze explicitly a set of examples with flat spatial slices in various dimensions which have…
We investigate the existence of dS vacua in supersymmetry-breaking Scherk-Schwarz toroidal compactifications of type II string theory, using the well-understood ingredients of curvature, fluxes and 1-loop Casimir energy. Starting from the…
The three tachyon-free non-supersymmetric string theories in ten dimensions provide a handle on quantum gravity away from the supersymmetric lamppost. However, they have not been shown to be fully consistent; although local anomalies cancel…
We discuss the singularities in the moduli space of string compactifications to six dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. Such singularities arise from either massless particles or non-critical tensionless strings. The points with…