Related papers: Strings, gravity and particle physics
String theory is the most promising candidate for the theory unifying all interactions including gravity. It has an extremely difficult dynamics. Therefore, it is useful to study some its simplifications. One of them is non-critical string…
A brief historical synopsis of the connection between gauge theories and string theory is given. Meson configurations known as k-strings are examined from string theory via the gauge/gravity correspondence. Backgrounds dual to k-strings in…
A gauged version of Berkovits twistor string theory featuring the particle content of N=8 supergravity was suggested by Abou-Zeid, Hull and Mason. The equations of motion for a particular multiplet in the modified theory are examined on the…
Early string theory described Bosonic particles at the real life Compton scale. Later developments to include Fermions initiated by Ramond and others have lead through Quantum Super Strings to M-theory operating at the as yet experimentally…
Elementary particle physics is the quadrant of nature whose laws can be written in a few lines with absolute precision and the greatest empirical adequacy. If this is the case, as I believe it is, it must be possible and is probably useful…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
Contents: We hear that... by Jorge Pullin * Reflections of a decade: Matters of Gravity and the Topical Group in Gravitation, by Beverly Berger 10 Years in Gravitational Wave Detection, by Peter Saulson Ten years of general relativity, some…
A talk presented at "String Gravity and Physics at the Planck Energy Scale", Erice, September 1995, summarizing the current understanding of the electroweak phase transition.
Using as a springboard a three-way debate between theoretical physicist Lee Smolin, philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright and myself, I address in layman's terms the issues of why we need a unified theory of the fundamental interactions…
A concise look at the big picture of particle physics, including the status of the Standard Model, neutrinos, supersymmetry, extra dimensions and cosmology. Based upon the theoretical summary presented at the XLIst Rencontres de Moriond on…
Dynamics of a free point particle on a multi world-line is presented and shown to reduce to that of a bosonic string theory at the appropriate limit. Other higher dimensional extended objects are argued to appear at other regions of the…
We will report on recent advances in the understanding of non-perturbative interconnections between different string dualities. Weak-strong coupling duality (S-duality) and T-duality (symmetry under compactification on dual tori) allows one…
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with…
String theory has not even come close to a complete formulation after half a century of intense research. On the other hand, a number of features of the theory suggest that the theory, once completed, may be a final theory. It is argued in…
Various properties of open strings in external constant E.M. fields are reviewed. In particular, the charged-particle pair production rate in an external electric field is evaluated, and shown to reduce to Schwinger's formula in the limit…
The main aim of this paper is to present an overview of the need of a new way of coping the fundamental equations of physics, see the references. Our main aim is to build a new metrics in which both time and space are included, but in some…
I describe our understanding of physics near the Planck length, in particular the great progress in the last four years in string theory. These are lectures presented at the 1998 SLAC Summer Institute.
Solutions to low energy string theory describing black holes and black strings are reviewed. Many of these solutions can be obtained by applying simple solution generating transformations to the Schwarzschild metric. In a few cases, the…
This text, written as dissertation within the M.Sc. course in particle theory at the Centre for Particle Theory, University of Durham, during the academic year 1993/94, reviews two articles by D.Gross and by D.Gross and W.Taylor which…
After a review of some topics concerning the phenomenological applications of perturbative string theory, I discuss to what extent all of it is affected by the recent developements in string dualities.