Related papers: String theory and the Classical Stability of Plane…
We consider the stability of periodic gravity free-surface water waves traveling downstream at a constant speed over a shear flow of finite depth. In case the free surface is flat, a sharp criterion of linear instability is established for…
A quantizable worldsheet action is constructed for the superstring in a supersymmetric plane wave background with Ramond-Ramond flux. The action is manifestly invariant under all isometries of the background and is an exact worldsheet…
This elementary introduction to string field theory highlights the features and the limitations of this approach to quantum gravity as it is currently understood. String field theory is a formulation of string theory as a field theory in…
The recent discovery of non-perturbatively stable two-dimensional string backgrounds and their dual matrix models allows the study of complete scattering matrices in string theory. In this note we adapt work of Moore, Plesser, and Ramgoolam…
We consider whether an external electric field may cause the pair production of open strings in a type IIA plane-wave background. The boundary states of D-branes with condensates are constructed in the Green-Schwarz formulation of…
The gravitational fields of vacuumless global and gauge strings have been studied in Brans-Dicke theory under the weak field assumption of the field equations. It has been shown that both global and gauge string can have repulsive as well…
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…
We describe in detail the solution of type IIB superstring theory in the maximally supersymmetric plane-wave background with constant null Ramond-Ramond 5-form field strength. The corresponding light-cone Green-Schwarz action found in…
Electromagnetic plane waves provide examples of time-dependent open string backgrounds free of $\alpha'$ corrections. The solvable case of open strings in a quadrupolar wave front, analogous to pp-waves for closed strings, is discussed. In…
We consider the stability of spatially homogeneous plane-wave spacetimes. We carry out a full analysis for plane-wave spacetimes in (4+1) dimensions, and find there are two cases to consider; what we call non-exceptional and exceptional. In…
The two-dimensional model which emerges from low-energy considerations of string theory is written down. Solutions of this classical model are noted, including some examples which have nontrivial tachyon field. One such represents the…
The t<0 branch of pre-big bang cosmological scenarios is subject to a gravitational wave instability. The unstable behaviour of tensor perturbations is derived in a very simple way in Hwang's covariant and gauge-invariant formalism…
In this work we consider the evolution of a massive scalar field in cylindrically symmetric space-times. Quasinormal modes have been calculated for static and rotating cosmic cylinders. We found unstable modes in some cases. Rotating as…
It is known that homogenous black strings in flat spacetime are unstable under long wavelength perturbations. Recently, by including scalar fields that depend on the extended coordinates only, homogenous black strings have been constructed…
The perturbative modes propagating along an infinite string are investigated within the framework of the gauge invariant perturbation formalism on a spacetime containing a self-gravitating straight string with a finite thickness. These…
We consider a model of static cosmic string loops in type IIB string theory, where the strings wrap cycles within the internal space. The strings are not topologically stabilised, however the presence of a lifting potential traps the…
We analyse the stringy gravitational wave background based on the current algebra $E^{c}_{2}$. We determine its exact spectrum and construct the modular invariant vacuum energy. The corresponding N=1 extension is also constructed. The…
We investigate the evolution of small perturbations around charged black strings and branes which are solutions of low energy string theory. We give the details of the analysis for the uncharged case which was summarized in a previous…
We consider the transition from a spatially uniform state to a steady, spatially-periodic pattern in a partial differential equation describing long-wavelength convection. This both extends existing work on the study of rolls, squares and…
Static, spherically symmetric, traversable wormholes, induced by massless, nonminimally coupled scalar fields in general relativity, are shown to be unstable under spherically symmetric perturbations. The instability is related to…