Related papers: Comments On String Theory
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…
It is here explained how the Green-Schwarz superstring theory arises from Matrix String Theory. This is obtained as the strong YM-coupling limit of the theory expanded around its BPS instantonic configurations, via the identification of the…
Recently, a new framework for solving the hierarchy problem has been proposed which does not rely on low energy supersymmetry or technicolor. The gravitational and gauge interactions unite at the electroweak scale, and the observed weakness…
We discuss the connection between Matrix string theory and the DLCQ of string theory. Using this connection we describe the sense in which perturbative string amplitudes are reproduced in the Matrix string theory. Using recent realization…
If there is a single underlying "theory of everything" which in some limits of its "moduli space" reduces to the five weakly coupled string theories in 10D, and 11D SUGRA, then it is possible that all six of them have some common domain of…
The anthropic principle is based on the observation that, within narrow bounds, the laws of physics are such as to have allowed the evolution of life. The string theoretic approach to understanding this observation is based on the…
Infinite distance limits in the moduli space of a quantum gravity theory are characterized by having infinite towers of states becoming light, as dictated by the Distance Conjecture in the Swampland program. These towers imply a drastic…
"Brane supersymmetry breaking" occurs in String Theory when the only available combinations of D-branes and orientifolds are not mutually BPS and yet do not introduce tree-level tachyon instabilities. It is characterized by the emergence of…
We discuss how in $SO(10)$ grand unification an observable number density of topologically stable intermediate mass ( $\sim 10^{14}$ GeV) monopoles survive inflation driven by a Coleman-Weinberg potential and non-minimal coupling of the…
String theory counterparts to Einstein's gravity, cosmology and inflation are described. A very tight upper bound on the Cosmic Gravitational Radiation Background (CGRB) of standard inflation is shown to be evaded in string cosmology, while…
String theory is arguably the best candidate for a theory of quantum gravity and unified interactions. Reconciling Einstein's theory of General Relativity with Quantum Mechanics. The theory however is best understood on Minkowski and…
String theories inspire a new formalism for their low-energy limits. In this approach to these field theories, spacetime duality and stringy left/right handedness are manifest. Enlarged tangent-space symmetries allow the different fields…
This is the written version of a short talk given at the University of Leipzig in December 1998. It reviews some general aspects of string theory from the viewpoint of the search for an unifying theory. Here, special emphasis lies on the…
In this paper we point out that the spacetime uncertainty relation proposed for string theory has strong cosmological implications that can solve the flatness problem and the horizon problem without the need of inflation. We make minimal…
The Cosmological Constant Problem is re-examined from an effective field theory perspective. While the connection between gravity and particle physics has not been experimentally probed in the quantum regime, it is severely constrained by…
The perturbative analysis of models of open and closed superstrings presents a number of surprises. For instance, variable numbers of antisymmetric tensors ensure their consistency via generalized Green-Schwarz cancellations and a novel…
We present a critical review and summary of String Gas Cosmology. We include a pedagogical derivation of the effective action starting from string theory, emphasizing the necessary approximations that must be invoked. Working in the…
We study the possibility of extended inflation in the effective theory of gravity from strings compactified to four dimensions and find that it strongly depends on the mechanism of supersymmetry breaking. We consider a general class of…
Cosmic superstrings of string theory differ from conventional cosmic strings of field theory. We review how the physical and cosmological properties of the macroscopic string loops influence experimental searches for these relics from the…
The region of moduli space of string theories which is most likely to describe the "real world" is where the string coupling is about unity and the volume of extra compact dimensions is about the same size as the string volume. Here we map…