Related papers: Thermal Tachyons and the "g"-Theorem
String theories naturally predict a negative, while observations on the exponential expansion of the present Universe require a positive value for the cosmological constant. Solution to resolve this discrepancy is known in the framework of…
We consider Sen's effective action for unstable D-branes, and study its classical dynamics exactly. In the true vacuum, the Hamiltonian dynamics remains well-defined despite a vanishing action, and is that of massive relativistic string…
Superstring/M-theory compactified on compact Ricci flat manifolds have recently been conjectured to exhibit instabilities whenever the metrics do not have special holonomy. We use worldsheet conformal field theory to investigate…
We present a new class of non-singular string cosmologies in d space-time dimensions. At very early times, \tau << \tau_c, the Universe is described by a flat \sigma-model metric, a constant maximal temperature T_c and super-weak string…
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…
In this paper we give an exact analytic solution for tachyon condensation in the modified (picture 0) cubic superstring field theory. We prove the absence of cohomology and, crucially, reproduce the correct value for the D-brane tension.…
We study the toy model of interacting open and closed string tachyons which demonstrates some interesting properties of the unstable D-brane decay scenario. We compute a stress tensor of the system and study the energy and pressure…
We consider type II string theory compactified on a symmetric T^6/Z_2 orientifold. We study a general class of discrete deformations of the resulting four-dimensional supergravity theory, including gaugings arising from geometric and…
In string theory, a thermal state is described by compactifying Euclidean time on a thermal circle $S^{1}_{\beta}$, of fixed circumference. However, this circumference is a dynamical field which could vary in space, therefore thermal…
The lump solution of \phi^3 field theory provides a toy model for unstable D-branes of bosonic string theory. The field theory living on this lump is itself a cubic field theory involving a tachyon, two additional scalar fields, and a…
We show that the $c=1$ bosonic string theory at finite temperature has two matrix-model realizations related by a kind of duality transformation. The first realization is the standard one given by the compactified matrix quantum mechanics…
Quantum theory of 2d gravity is examined by including a special quantum correction, which corresponds to the open string loop corrections and provides a new conformal anomaly for the corresponding $\sigma$ model. This anomaly leads to the…
Motivated by the renormalization group (RG) approach to $c=0$ matrix model of Bre\'zin and Zinn-Justin, we develop a RG scheme for $c=1$ matrix model on a circle and analyze how the two coupling constants in double scaling limit with…
We study the null compactification of type-IIA-string perturbation theory at finite temperature. We prove a theorem about Riemann surfaces establishing that the moduli spaces of infinite-momentum-frame superstring worldsheets are identical…
We use matrix model results to investigate the Sine-Gordon model coupled to two dimensional gravity. For relevant (in the RG sense) potentials, we show that the $c=1$ string, which appears in the ultraviolet limit of this model, flows to a…
A system of k Neveu-Schwarz (NS) 5-branes of type II string theory with one transverse direction compactified on a circle admits various unstable D-brane systems, - some with geometric instability arising out of being placed at a point of…
This thesis considers two different aspects of string theory, the tensionless limit of the string and supersymmetric sigma models. The tensionless limit is used to find a IIB supergravity background generated by a tensionless string.…
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…
An F-theory dual of a nonsupersymmetric orientifold is considered. It is argued that the condensation of both open and closed string tachyons in the orientifold corresponds to the annihilation of branes and anti-branes in the F-theory dual.…
In four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric field theory it is often the case that the $U(1)_R$ current that becomes part of the superconformal algebra at the infrared fixed point is conserved throughout the renormalization group (RG) flow. We…