Related papers: String Theory
In addition to being a prime candidate for a fundamental unified theory of all interactions in nature, string theory provides a natural setting to understand gauge field theories. This is linked to the concept of "D-branes": extended,…
The first part is an introduction to conformal field theory and string perturbation theory. The second part deals with the search for a deeper answer to the question posed in the title. Contents: 1. Conformal Field Theory 2. String Theory…
String theory is a quantum theory that reproduces the results of General Relativity at long distances but is completely different at short distances. Mathematically, string theory is based on a very new -- and little understood -- framework…
This is a Concluding Talk, not a Summary of the FPCP 2011 Conference. I will first make some comments on the status and the prospects of particle physics and then review some of the highlights that particularly impressed me at this…
In these lectures I discuss various unsolved problems of string theory and their relations to quantum gravity, 3d Ising model, large N QCD, and quantum cosmology. No solutions are presented but some new and perhaps useful approaches are…
This is a pedagogical introduction to the basics of the cosmic string theory and also a review of the recent progress made with respect to the macrophysical predictions of the theory. Topics covered include, string formation and evolution,…
This book provides an introduction to string field theory (SFT). String theory is usually formulated in the worldsheet formalism, which describes a single string (first-quantization). While this approach is intuitive and could be pushed far…
String theory builds on the great legacy of Yukawa and Tomonaga: New degrees of freedom and control of the UV are two important themes. This talk will give an overview of some of the progress and some of the unsolved problems that…
String theory is the leading contemporary framework to explore the synthesis of quantum mechanics with gravity. String phenomenology aims to study string theory while maintaining contact with observational data. The fermionic $Z_2\times…
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…
With our current level of understanding, the problem of making string theory predictions is not one of "solving" the theory, but rather of trying to determine whether there are any generic expectations. Within this context, we discuss what…
The first lecture gives a colloquium-level overview of string theory and M-theory. The second lecture surveys various attempts to construct a viable model of particle physics. A recently proposed approach, based on F-theory, is emphasized.
With the SNOWMASS 2021 process in the US and the on--going European Strategy Report 2025, the field of elementary particle physics is undergoing detailed community evaluation, and the experimental particle physics program, which requires…
In this review I discuss some basic aspects of non-perturbative string theory. The topics include test of duality symmetries based on the analysis of the low energy effective action and the spectrum of BPS states, relationship between…
These notes provide a brief introduction to modern cosmology, focusing primarily on theoretical issues. Some attention is paid to aspects of potential interest to students of string theory, on both sides of the two-way street of…
The interplay between string theory and cosmology is very promising. Since string theory will yield a quantum theory of space-time and unify all forces of nature, it has the potential of addressing many of the conceptual problems of the…
String theory developed by demanding consistency with quantum mechanics. In this paper we wish to reverse the reasoning. We pretend open string field theory is a fully consistent definition of the theory - it is at least a self consistent…
I review some of the recent progress in two-dimensional string theory, which is formulated as a sum over surfaces embedded in one dimension.
String theorists are certain that they are practicing physicists. Yet, some of their recent critics deny this. This paper argues that this conflict is really about who holds authority in making rational judgment in theoretical physics. At…
A brief review of the status of duality symmetries in string theory is presented. The evidence is accumulating rapidly that an enormous group of duality symmetries, including perturbative T dualities and non-perturbative S-dualities,…