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We explore the moduli space of heterotic strings in two dimensions. In doing so, we introduce new lines of compactified theories with Spin(24) gauge symmetry and discuss compactifications with Wilson lines. The phase structure of d=2…
We consider F-strings with arbitrary configurations in the Minkowski directions of a higher-dimensional spacetime, which also wrap and spin around $S^1$ subcycles of constant radius in an arbitrary internal manifold, and determine the…
We fully classify the phenomenology of gravitational wave emission from scaling cosmic string networks with varying tension and compute the spectral indices of the resulting stochastic backgrounds. In string compactifications, periods of…
We perform a detailed study of stringy moduli-driven cosmologies between the end of inflation and the commencement of the Hot Big Bang, including both the background and cosmological perturbations: a period that can cover half the lifetime…
We point out that the moduli sector of the $(2,2)$ string compactification with its nonperturbatively preserved non-compact symmetries is a framework to study global topological defects. Based on the target space modular invariance of the…
String theory axions appear to be promising candidates for explaining cosmological constant via quintessence. In this paper, we study conditions on the string compactifications under which axion quintessence can happen. For sufficiently…
This brief article reviews a recently proposed scenario of moduli stabilization constructed in the vicinity of a conifold locus in the complex structure moduli space. We discuss typical features of moduli stabilization due to the…
In these lectures, we review the physics of time-dependent orbifolds of string theory, with particular attention to orbifolds of three-dimensional Minkowski space. We discuss the propagation of free particles in the orbifold geometries,…
We discuss some aspects of string cosmology with an emphasis on the role played by the dilaton. A cosmological scenario based on the assumption that all spatial dimensions are periodic so that winding modes play an important role is…
In these lectures, we review the main properties of the topological theory obtained by twisting the N=2 two-dimensional superconformal algebra, associated to supersymmetric string compactifications. In particular, we describe a set of…
We describe a class of time-dependent solutions in string- or M-theory that are exact with respect to alpha-prime and curvature corrections and interpolate in physical space between regions in which the low energy physics is…
The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…
We derive and study a class of cosmological and wormhole solutions of low-energy effective string field theory. We consider a general four-dimensional string effective action where moduli of the compactified manifold and the electromagnetic…
Stabilizing all of the modulus fields coming from compactifications of string theory on internal manifolds is one of the outstanding challenges for string cosmology. Here, in a simple example of toroidal compactification, we study the…
It has long been known that strings wound around incontractible cycles can play a vital role in cosmology. In particular, in a spacetime with toroidal spatial hypersurfaces, the dynamics of the winding modes may help yield three large…
We present time-dependent solutions in the higher-dimensional gravity which are related to supergravity in the particular cases. Here, we consider p-branes with a cosmological constant and the intersections of two and more branes. The…
I discuss cosmological models either derived from, or inspired by, string theory or M-theory. In particular I discuss solutions in the low-energy effective theory and the role of the dilaton, moduli and antisymmetric form fields in the…
It is emphasized that compactified little string theories have compact moduli spaces of vacua, which globally probe compact string geometry. Compactifying various little string theories on T^3 leads to 3d theories with exact, quantum…
Theories of the cosmological constant fall into two classes, those in which the vacuum energy is fixed by the fundamental theory and those in which it is adjustable in some way. For each class we discuss key challenges. The string theory…
We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…