Related papers: On the thin-string limit of the 6d stringlike defe…
The proposal that a strong coupling limit of the five-dimensional type II string theory (M-theory compactified on a 6-torus) in which the Planck length becomes infinite could give a six-dimensional superconformal phase of M-theory is…
Recent developments in string duality suggest that the string scale may not be irrevocably tied to the Planck scale. Two explicit but unrealistic examples are described where the ratio of the string scale to the Planck scale is arbitrarily…
A particle spectrum below the string scale in accordance with predictions from heterotic string theory yields a Planck mass $m_{Pl}=(8\pi G_N)^{-1/2}$ which exceeds the string scale by a factor $\simeq 61.9$. A Planck mass…
Models with large extra dimensions offer the possibility of the Planck scale being of order the electroweak scale, thus alleviating the gauge hierarchy problem. We show that these models suffer from a breakdown of unitarity at around three…
We present a metric solution in six dimensions where gravity is localized on a four-dimensional singular string-like defect. The corrections to four-dimensional gravity from the bulk continuum modes are suppressed by ${\cal O}(1/r^3)$. No…
Some recent studies of the properties of D-particles suggest that in string theory a rather conventional description of spacetime might be available up to scales that are significantly smaller than the Planck length. We test this…
These lectures present some topics of string phenomenology and contain two parts. In the first part, I review the possibility of lowering the string scale in the TeV region, that provides a theoretical framework for solving the mass…
We show that existing low energy experiments, searching for the breaking of local Lorentz invariance, set bounds upon string theory inspired quantum gravity models that induce corrections to the propagation of fields. In the D-particle…
Recently Rizzo studied the Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in a brane scenario with one extra dimension where he found a non-zero mass for the four-dimensional graviton. This leads to the conclusion that five-dimensional models with LIV…
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…
We spell out the derivation of novel features, put forward earlier in a letter, of two dimensional gravity in the strong coupling regime, at $C_L=7$, 13, 19. Within the operator approach previously developed, they neatly follow from the…
We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1) gauge field with gauge coupling g, there is a…
Point particles fall freely along geodesics; strings do not. In string theory all probes of spacetime structure, including photons, are extended objects and therefore always subject to tidal forces. We illustrate how string theory modifies…
Recently, a number of authors have challenged the conventional assumption that the string scale, Planck mass, and unification scale are roughly comparable. It has been suggested that the string scale could be as low as a TeV. In this note,…
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric…
We propose a framework where the string scale as well as all compact dimensions are at the electroweak scale $\sim$ TeV$^{-1}$. The weakness of gravity is attributed to the small value of the string coupling $g_s \sim 10^{-16}$, presumably…
We discuss some peculiar properties of the stochastic graviton background predicted by string cosmology. At Planckian times, for the values of the parameters of the model which are more interesting for the detection in gravitational wave…
It was shown in arXiv:1410.7168 that compactifying $D=6$, $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ ungauged supergravity coupled to a single tensor multiplet on S$^3$ one gets a particular $D=3$, $\mathcal{N}=4$ gauged supergravity which is a consistent…
We test various conjectures about quantum gravity for six-dimensional string compactifications in the framework of F-theory. Starting with a gauge theory coupled to gravity, we analyze the limit in K\"ahler moduli space where the gauge…
We combine old and new quantum field theoretic arguments to show that any theory of stable or metastable higher spin particles can be coupled to gravity only when the gravity sector has a stringy structure. Metastable higher spin particles,…