Related papers: Dynamics with Infinitely Many Time Derivatives and…

In some string theories, e.g. SO(32) heterotic string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds, a massless field with a tree level potential can acquire a tachyonic mass at the one loop level, forcing us to quantize the theory around a new background…

We find that tachyonic orbifold examples of AdS/CFT have corresponding instabilities at small radius, and can decay to more generic gauge theories. We do this by computing a destabilizing Coleman-Weinberg effective potential for twisted…

In the Matrix Quantum Mechanical formulation of 2D string theory it is possible to introduce arbitrary tachyonic perturbations. In the case when the tachyonic momenta form a lattice, the theory is known to be integrable and, therefore, it…

We analyze the realm of validity of the recently found tachyon solution of cubic string field theory. We find that the equation of motion holds in a non trivial way when this solution is contracted with itself. This calculation is needed to…

It is shown that classical decay of unstable D-branes in bosonic and superstring theories produces pressureless gas with non-zero energy density. The energy density is stored in the open string fields, even though around the minimum of the…

We study the physics of open strings in bosonic and type II string theories in the presence of unstable D-branes. When the potential energy of the open string tachyon is at its minimum, Sen has argued that only closed strings remain in the…

We consider two examples of solutions of the equations of motion of scalar field theories with higher derivatives. These are the cosmology of the rolling tachyon and static spherically symmetric solutions of the scalar field in flat space.…

We consider the possibility of realizing inflation in nonlocal field theories containing infinitely many derivatives. Such constructions arise naturally in string field theory and also in a number of toy models, such as the p-adic string.…

Cosmological solutions of the beta function equations for the background fields of the closed bosonic string are investigated at the one-loop level. Following recent work of Kostelecky and Perry, it is assumed that the spatial sections of…

We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides strong…

String theory relies on spacetime supersymmetry to guarantee the existence of stable vacua. In this review, we survey two features of non-supersymmetric strings that challenge both aspects: the appearance of tachyons and worldsheet…

String theory posesses numerous axion candidates. The recent realization that the compactification radius in string theory might be large means that these states can solve the strong CP problem. This still leaves the question of the…

The rolling tachyon is a non-canonical scalar field model well motivated in string theory which naturally predicts variations of the fine-structure constant. Such variations can in principle lead to interesting observable consequences, but…

We add an initial nonhomogeneous perturbation to an otherwise homogeneous condensing tachyon background and compute its space time energy-momentum tensor from worldsheet string theory. We show that in the far future the energy-momentum…

We investigate the spacetime-dependent condensation of the tachyon in effective field theories. Previous work identified singularities in the field which appear in finite time: infinite gradients at the kinks, and (in the eikonal…

It has recently been realised that strings with time-dependent tensions exhibit interesting dynamics; in particular, when the tension decreases loops of string can grow and possibly percolate. We extend previous analytic studies of strings…

The tachyon effective field theory describing the dynamics of a non-BPS D-$p$-brane has electric flux tube solutions where the electric field is at its critical value and the tachyon is at its vacuum. It has been suggested that these…

Classical strings coupled to a metric, a dilaton and an axion, as conceived by superstring theory, suffer from ultraviolet divergences due to self-interactions. Consequently, as in the case of radiating charged particles, the corresponding…

At the final stage of unstable D-brane decay in the effective field theory approach, all energy and momentum of the initial state are taken up by two types of fluids, known as string fluid and tachyon matter. In this note, we compare motion…

String theory in two-dimensional spacetime illuminates two main threads of recent development in string theory: (1) Open/closed string duality, and (2) Tachyon condensation. In two dimensions, many aspects of these phenomena can be explored…