Related papers: Can string bits be supersymmetric?
We analyze the core structure of string defects in various condensed matter systems, such as nematic liquid crystals and superfluid helium, and argue that in certain cases the variation of the refractive index near the core is such that it…
We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is shown that the term with the antisymmetric field has a topological nature like a…
In these lecture notes, an introduction to superstring theory is presented. Classical strings, covariant and light-cone quantization, supersymmetric strings, anomaly cancelation, compactification, T-duality, supersymmetry breaking, and…
We investigate asymmetric orbifold models constructed from non-supersymmetric heterotic strings. We systematically classify the asymmetric orbifold models with standard embeddings and present a list of asymmetric orbifolds which are…
We point out that the moduli sector of the $(2,2)$ string compactification with its nonperturbatively preserved non-compact symmetries is a fertile framework to study global topological defects, thus providing a natural source for the large…
The supersymmetry breaking parameters and the resulting supersymmetric particle spectrum are studied in orbifold compactifications of string theory under the assumption that unification of gauge coupling constants at about $10^{16}$ GeV is…
A major problem in discussing heterotic string models is the stabilisation of the many vector bundle moduli via the superpotential generated by world-sheet instantons. In arXiv:1110.6315 we have discussed the method to make a discrete twist…
We examine supersymmetric theories with approximately conformal sectors. Without an IR cutoff the theory has a continuum of modes, which are often referred to as "unparticles." Making use of the AdS/CFT correspondence we find that in the…
We initiate a search for non-perturbative consistency conditions in M theory. Some non-perturbative conditions are already known in Type I theories; we review these and search for others. We focus principally on possible anomalies in…
We study certain supersymmetry breaking deformations of linear dilaton backgrounds in different dimensions. In some cases, the deformed theory has bulk closed strings tachyons. In other cases there are no bulk tachyons, but there are…
We consider the probem of gauging discrete symmetries. All valid constraints on such symmetries can be understood in the low energy theory in terms of instantons. We note that string perturbation theory often exhibits global discrete…
I discuss the usefulness of lattice supersymmetry in relation to string phenomenology. I suggest how lattice results might be incorporated into string phenomenology. I outline difficulties and describe some constructions that contain an…
We show that T-duality can be broken by nonperturbative effects in string coupling. The T-duality in question is that of the 2-torus when the heterotic string is compactified on K3 x T2. This case is compared carefully to a situation where…
We review a class of non-topological defects in the standard electroweak model, and their implications. Starting with the semilocal string, which provides a counterexample to many well known properties of topological vortices, we discuss…
The ground state of string theory may lie at a point of ``maximally enhanced symmetry", at which all of the moduli transform under continuous or discrete symmetries. This hypothesis, along with the hypotheses that the theory at high…
Several arguments are given for the summability of the superstring perturbation series. Whereas the Schottky group coordinatization of moduli space may be used to provide refined estimates of large-order bosonic string amplitudes, the…
Supersymmetry breaking in string theory is expected to occur when moduli fields acquire non-trivial expectation values. In the early universe these fields start out displaced from their final destinations. I present some recent ideas about…
We consider the model giving rise to Witten's superconducting cosmic strings at finite fermion chemical potential and temperature. We demonstrate how various symmetries of the hamiltonian can be used to exactly compute the fermion electric…
This talk describes a proposal, due to Hull, for a conformally invariant limit of superstring theory in six dimensions.
The presence of Killing-Yano tensors implies the existence of non-standard supersymmetries in point particle theories on curved backgrounds. In a string theoretical context these are symmetries of the modes describing the particle-like…