Related papers: Strings in a Time-Dependent Orbifold

A new set of boundary conditions for string propagators is proposed in this paper. The boundary conditions are parametrized by a complex number $\lambda$. Under these new boundary conditions, the left-moving and right-moving modes are…

Cosmic (super)strings offer promising ways to test ideas about the early universe and physics at high energies. While in field theory constructions their tension is usually assumed to be constant (or at most slowly-varying), this is often…

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…

The origin of Big Bang singularity in 3+1 dimensions can be understood in an exact string theory background obtained by an analytic continuation of a cigar like geometry with a nontrivial dilaton. In a T-dual conformal field theory picture…

We present a short introduction to a non-standard cosmological scenario motivated by the duality symmetries of string theory, in which the big bang singularity is replaced with a "big bounce" at high but finite curvature. The bouncing epoch…

String theory and supersymmetry are theoretical ideas that go beyond the standard model of particle physics and show promise for unifying all forces. After a brief introduction to supersymmetry, we discuss the prospects for its experimental…

We demonstrate that string consistency in four spacetime dimensions leads to a spectrum of string states which satisfies the supertrace constraints Str(M^0)=0 and Str(M^2)=\Lambda at tree level, where \Lambda is the one-loop string…

We study aspects of obtaining field theories with noncommuting time-space coordinates as limits of open-string theories in constant electric-field backgrounds. We find that, within the standard closed-string backgrounds, there is an…

We consider a picture in which the transition from a big crunch to a big bang corresponds to the collision of two empty orbifold planes approaching each other at a constant non-relativistic speed in a locally flat background space-time, a…

We discuss the continuum field theory limit of the physical scenario described in Ref. [1], the universe arising from the interpretation of the most general collection of logical codes in terms of distributions of units of energy along…

Is string theory uniquely determined by self-consistency? Causality and unitarity seemingly permit a multitude of putative deformations, at least at the level of two-to-two scattering. Motivated by this question, we initiate a systematic…

In cosmological scenarios based on grand unification, string theory or braneworlds, many kinds of topological or non-topological defects, including monopoles and cosmic strings, are predicted to be formed in the early universe. Here we…

Currently, string theory represents the only advanced approach to a unification of all interactions, including gravity. In spite of the more than thirty years of its existence it did not make any empirically testable predictions. And it is…

We improve the study of the lack of perturbative unitarity of noncommutative space-time quantum field theories derived from open string theory in electric backgrounds, enforcing the universality of the mechanism by which a tachyonic branch…

A string field theory including open string fields is constructed in the temporal gauge. It consists of string interaction vertices similar to the light-cone gauge string field theory. A slight modification of the definition of the time…

The notion of a space-time uncertainty principle in string theory is clarified and further developed. The motivation and the derivation of the principle are first reviewed in a reasonably self-contained way. It is then shown that the…

We attempt to understand the fate of spacelike gravitational singularities in string theory via the quantum stress tensor for string matter in a fixed background. We first approximate the singularity with a homogeneous anisotropic…

In two-dimensional string theory, a probe D0-brane does not see the black hole singularity due to a cancellation between its metric coupling and the dilaton coupling. A similar mechanism may work in the Schwarzschild black hole in large $D$…

An overview is given of the way in which the unification program of particle physics has evolved into the proposal of superstring theory as a prime candidate for unifying quantum gravity with the other forces and particles of nature. A key…

In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…