Related papers: Field Theory Correlators and String Theory
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…
In 1998, J. M. Maldacena conjectured a precise duality in the low-energy (or decoupling) regime between a large N strongly-coupled SU(N) super-Yang-Mills theory defined in the four-dimensional Minkowski world-volume M^4 of a stack of N…
In the nearly twenty years that have elapsed since its discovery, the gauge-gravity correspondence has become established as an efficient tool to explore the physics of a large class of strongly-coupled field theories. A brief overview is…
Infrared modifications of gravity have been proposed over the years as potentially useful phenomenological models. Massive (multi)-gravity is an interesting class of such theories. The true nature and the ultimate consistency of many of…
Exact solutions depending on one variable of gravitational theory with antisymmetric tensor and a coupled dilaton field are obtained in arbitrary space-time dimensions. These solutions are relevant to M-theory, type IIA and type IIB…
This work is devoted to a study of some of the non-perturbative aspects of superstring theory that have come within reach thanks to dualities. The first chapter gives a non-technical zero-equation introduction to these developments intended…
It is well known that string theory can be formulated as two dimensional gravity coupled to matter. In the 2d gravity formulation the central charge of the matter together with a hidden dimension from the conformal factor or Liouville mode…
Recently, Kim, Shiu and Vafa proposed general consistency conditions for six dimensional supergravity theories with minimal supersymmetry coming from couplings to strings. We test them in explicit perturbative orientifold models in order to…
This Ph.D. thesis investigates effective field and string theories in which supersymmetry is realized and broken in various ways. Chapter 1 addresses effective theories with nonlinearly realized supersymmetry, constructed using the…
We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of $\Z_p$ gauge theories shows that they are associated with an…
We analyse the implications of the fact that there are two claims for a dual to \N=4 superconformal SU(N) Yang-Mills theory (SCYM), the Maldacena conjecture and the theorem of Rehren. While the Maldacena dual is conjectured to be a…
We conjecture that there exists a strong coupling limit of bosonic string theory which is related to the 26 dimensional theory in the same way that 11 dimensional M theory is related to superstring theory. More precisely, we believe that…
We identify the 4D field theories living on the world volume of D4 branes in non-supersymmetric type IIA string theory constructions. They are softly broken N=2 SQCD with the breakings introduced through vevs of the auxilliary fields in the…
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.…
I review the relations between mass scales in various string theories and in M-theory. I discuss physical motivations and possible consistent realizations of large volume compactifications and low string scale. Large longitudinal…
N=2 heterotic strings may provide a window into the physics of M-theory radically different than that found via the other supersymmetric string theories. In addition to their supersymmetric structure, these strings carry a four-dimensional…
Two different mechanisms exist in non-perturbative String / M- theory for enhanced SU(N) (SO(2N)) gauge symmetries. It can appear in type IIA string theory or M-theory near an $A_{N-1}$ (D_N) type singularity where membrnes wrapped around…
The strongly coupled limit of string scattering and the automorphic construction of the graviton S-matrix is compared with the eleven dimensional formulation of M-theory. In a particular scaling limit at strong string coupling, M-theory is…
In some models of N=1 supersymmetric SU(M) gauge dynamics (hep-th/9503163 and hep-th/9707244), the tension of a string ending on q external quarks is proportional to sin(pi q/M), q=1,..., M-1. In this paper we calculate the ratios of the…
The heterotic string theory, compactified to four dimensions, has been conjectured to have a duality symmetry (S duality) that transforms the dilaton nonlinearly. If valid, this symmetry could provide an important means of obtaining…