Related papers: Closed string tachyons in a smooth curved backgrou…
We consider Z2, freely acting orbifolds of the type IIB string with 16 parallel D5-branes. When the string is compactified on T2 X T4 and the D5-branes are wrapped on T2, these systems possess N=2 supersymmetry, originating from the…
In this thesis we review the fundamental framework of boundary string field theory (BSFT) and apply it to the tachyon condensation on non-BPS systems in the superstring theory. The boundary string field theory can be regarded as a natural…
The worldsheet renormalization group approach to tachyon condensation in string theory is reviewed. The open string case is summarized with examples, and closed string tachyon condensation on nonsupersymmetric orbifolds is examined in…
Intersecting Dp-branes often give rise to chiral fermions living on their intersections. We study the construction of four-dimensional chiral gauge theories by considering configurations of type II D(3+n)-branes wrapped on non-trivial…
The study of discrete gauge symmetries in field theory and string theory is often carried out by embedding them into continuous symmetries. Many symmetries however do not seem to admit such embedding, for instance discrete isometries given…
We consider condensation of nearly marginal matter tachyons in closed string field theory and observe that upon restricting to a subspace of states not containing the ghost dilaton, the on-shell value of the action is proportional to the…
We study compactifications of the $N=2$ 6D tensionless string on various complex two-folds down to two-dimensions. In the IR limit they become non-trivial conformal field theories in 2D. Using results of Vafa and Witten on the partition…
These lectures provide an introduction to the subject of tachyon condensation in the open bosonic string. The problem of tachyon condensation is first described in the context of the low-energy Yang-Mills description of a system of multiple…
We use boundary string field theory to study open string tachyon condensation on a three-sphere closed string background. We consider the closed string background described by $SU(2)_k$ WZW model in the limit of large $k$. We compute the…
In a recent paper (hep-th/0703157), Sen studied unstable D-branes in NS5-branes backgrounds and argued that in the strong curvature regime the universal open string tachyon (on D-branes of the wrong dimensionality) and the geometric tachyon…
We consider tachyon condensation between a D-brane and an anti-D-brane in superstring theory, when they are separated in their common transverse directions. A simple rolling tachyon solution, that describes the time evolution of the…
We discuss in detail the $1+1$-dimensional superconformal field theory dual to type II string theory on $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$, emphasizing the string theoretic aspects of this duality. For one unit of NS-NS 5-brane flux ($Q_5=1$),…
Intersecting D-brane models and their T-dual magnetic compactifications provide an attractive framework for particle physics, allowing for chiral fermions and supersymmetry breaking. Generically, magnetic compactifications have tachyons…
We study D-branes in a nonsupersymmetric orbifold of type C^2/\Gamma, perturbed by a tachyon condensate, using a gauged linear sigma model. The RG flow has both higgs and coulomb branches, and each branch supports different branes. The…
Type I string theory provides eight classes of unstable D-brane systems. We determine the gauge group and tachyon spectrum for each one, and thereby describe the gauge symmetry breaking pattern in the low-energy world-volume field theory.…
The c=1 matrix model, with or without a type 0 hat, has an exact quantum solution corresponding to closed string tachyon condensation along a null surface. The condensation occurs, and spacetime dissolves, at a finite retarded time on I^+.…
We present non-supersymmetric toroidal compactifications of type I string theory with both constant background NSNS two-form flux and non-trivial magnetic flux on the various D9-branes. The non-vanishing B-flux admits four-dimensional…
We consider a general framework to study holographically the dynamics of fundamental quarks in a confining gauge theory. Flavors are introduced by placing a set of (coincident) branes and antibranes on a background dual to a confining color…
We consider non-critical heterotic strings compactified on $S^1$. For full rank theories, they are related to odd self-dual lattices and are structurally of the same form as the critical non-supersymmetric theories. For dimensions up to 14…
We study the moduli space of the boundary conformal field theories describing an unstable D-brane of type II string theory compactified on a circle of critical radius. This moduli space has two branches, -- a three dimensional branch…