Related papers: String theory and the Classical Stability of Plane…
We observe a relation between closed strings tachyons and one-loop instabilities in non-supersymmetric non-commutative gauge theories. In particular we analyze the spectra of type IIB string theory on C^3/Z_N orbifold singularities and the…
With no free parameter (except the string scale $M_S$), dynamical flux compactification in Type IIB string theory determines both the cosmological constant (vacuum energy density) $\Lambda$ and the Planck mass $M_P$ in terms of $M_S$, thus…
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 investigate the stability of a free scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity under linear perturbations in the spacetime of a charged spherical shell. Our analysis is performed in the context of quantum field theory in curved…
A massless scalar field is quantized in the background of a spinning string with cosmic dislocation. By increasing the spin density toward the dislocation parameter, a region containing closed timelike curves (CTCs) eventually forms around…
We propose gauge theories in which the unstable branes and the fundamental string are realized as classical solutions. While the former are represented by domain wall like configurations of a scalar field coupled to the gauge field, the…
The stability of "visible" electroweak-type cosmic strings is investigated in an extension of the Standard Model (SM) by a minimal dark sector, consisting of a U(1) gauge field, broken spontaneously by a scalar. The "visible" and dark…
We discuss the semi-classical perturbation spectra produced in the massless fields of the low energy string action in a pre big bang type scenario. Axion fields may possess an almost scale-invariant spectrum on large scales dependent upon…
String cosmology models predict a stochastic cosmic background of gravitational waves with a characteristic spectrum. I describe the background, present astrophysical and cosmological bounds on it, and outline how it may be possible to…
We study the stability of supersymmetry breaking vacuum in the presence of cosmic strings arising in the messenger sector. For certain ranges of the couplings, the desired supersymmetry breaking vacua become unstable against decay into…
Similar to the superradiant effect in Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole, a charged scalar field can be amplified when impinging on the charged black hole in string theory. According to the black-hole bomb mechanism,the mass term of the…
Some black hole mimickers, as well as black strings and other higher-dimensional spacetimes, exhibit stable light rings-regions where light or high-frequency gravitational waves can be trapped. In these regions, linear perturbations decay…
Metastable strings can arise from a two-step symmetry breaking chain of the type $SU(2) \to U(1) \to 1$.They can decay through quantum tunneling by nucleating a monopole-antimonopole pair, and are prominent candidates for explaining the…
Quantization of the bosonic string around the classical, perturbative vacuum is not consistent for spacetime dimensions 2<d<26. Recently we have showed that at large d there is another so-called mean field vacuum. Here we extend this mean…
Dense distributions of string-like objects in material media are considered in terms of continuum field theory. The strings are assumed to carry a quantized abelian topological charge, such as the Burgers vector of dislocations in solids or…
A class of non-supersymmetric string backgrounds can be constructed using twists that involve space-time fermion parity. We propose a non-perturbative definition of string theory in these backgrounds via gauge theories with supersymmetry…
We study a class of time dependent solutions of the vacuum Einstein equations which are plane waves with weak null singularities. This singularity is weak in the sense that though the tidal forces diverge at the singularity, the rate of…
We present an alternative way of tracing the existence of a scalar field based on the analysis of the gravitational wave spectrum of a vibrating neutron star. Scalar-tensor theories in strong-field gravity can potentially introduce much…
Gravitational shockwaves are geometries where components of the transverse curvature have abrupt behaviour across null hypersurfaces, which are fronts of the waves. We develop a general approach to describe classical field theories on such…
We study the plane (not necessarily monochromatic) gravitational waves at nonlinear quadratic order on a flat background in vacuum. We show that, in the harmonic gauge, the nonlinear waves are unstable. We argue that, at this order, this…