Related papers: Closed strings in Misner space: a toy model for a …
We express one-loop string amplitudes involving both open and closed strings as sum over pure open string amplitudes. These findings generalize the analogous tree-level result to higher loops and extend the tree-level observation that in…
One of the simplest time-dependent solutions of M theory consists of nine-dimensional Euclidean space times 1+1-dimensional compactified Milne space-time. With a further modding out by Z_2, the space-time represents two orbifold planes…
We consider new cosmological solutions with a collapsing, an intermediate and an expanding phase. The boundary between the expanding (collapsing) phase and the intermediate phase is seen by comoving observers as a cosmological past (future)…
In the framework of the compactified closed bosonic string theory with the extra spatial coordinates being circular with radius $R$, we perform both the zero-slope limit and the $R \rightarrow 0$ limit of the tree scattering amplitude of…
Resolution of cosmological singularities is an important problem in any full theory of quantum gravity. The Milne orbifold is a cosmology with a big-bang/big-crunch singularity, but being a quotient of flat space it holds potential for…
String theory one-loop threshold corrections are studied in a background field approach due to Kiritsis and Kounnas which uses space-time curvature as an infrared regulator. We review the conformal field theory aspects using the…
It has recently been argued that the singularity of the Milne orbifold can be resolved in higher spin theories. In string theory scattering amplitudes, however, the Milne singularity gives rise to ultraviolet divergences that signal…
We study string propagation in a spacetime with positive cosmological constant, which includes a circle whose radius approaches a finite value as |t|\to\infty, and goes to zero at t=0. Near this cosmological singularity, the spacetime looks…
A collision of orbifold planes in eleven dimensions has been proposed as an explanation of the hot big bang. When the two planes are close to each other, the winding membranes become the lightest modes of the theory, and can be effectively…
In this paper we analyze a Rutherford type experiment where light probes are inelastically scattered by an ensemble of excited closed strings, and use the corresponding cross section to extract density-density correlators between different…
In this dissertation, we study various aspects of type IIB string theory compactified on freely acting orbifolds. We focus particularly on asymmetric orbifolds, which are examples of non-geometric string compactifications and constitute an…
The Heterotic twistor string theory of Mason and Skinner is investigated with particular attention given to the role of topological gravity on the world-sheet. The general structure of scattering amplitudes is discussed and expressed in…
String propagation is investigated in de Sitter and black hole backgrounds using both exact and approximative methods. The circular string evolution in de Sitter space is discussed in detail with respect to energy and pressure, mathematical…
The open- and closed-string three- and four-point one-loop amplitudes involving massless states and one first-level massive state are computed in pure spinor superspace. For the open string, we show that their one-loop correlators can be…
This is the first of a series of three papers on open string field theories based on Witten star product deformed with a gauge invariant open/closed coupling. This deformation is a tree-level tadpole which destabilizes the initial…
At the tree level, the scattering processes involving open and closed strings are described by a disk world-sheet with vertex operator insertions at the boundary and in the bulk. Such amplitudes can be decomposed as certain linear…
We study the null orbifold singularity in 2+1 d flat space higher spin theory as well as string theory. Using the Chern-Simons formulation of 2+1 d Einstein gravity, we first observe that despite the singular nature of this geometry, the…
We compute correlation functions of closed strings in Misner space, a big crunch big bang universe. We develop a general method for correlators with twist fields, which are relevant for the investigation on the condensation of winding…
In this short review we outline some recent developments in understanding string orbifolds. In particular, we outline the recent observation that string orbifolds do not precisely describe string propagation on quotient spaces, but rather…
Twistor string models have been known for more than a decade now but have come back under the spotlight recently with the advent of the scattering equation formalism which has greatly generalized the scope of these models. A striking…