Related papers: Strings below the Planck scale
We discuss the classical continuum limit of the string field theory dual to the $\mathrm{SU}(N)$ lattice gauge theory and investigate various fundamental phenomena in the continuum theory at the mean-field level. Our construction of the…
String breaking, the process by which flux tubes fragment into hadronic states, is a hallmark of confinement in strongly-interacting quantum field theories. A suite of quantum complexity measures is examined using Matrix Product States to…
We consider a class of conformal models describing closed strings in axially symmetric stationary magnetic flux tube backgrounds. These models are closed string analogs of the Landau model of a particle in a magnetic field or the model of…
It is argued that singlet extensions of the MSSM at the weak scale are indicative of either gauged-$R$ symmetry or target space duality in a string effective action at the Planck scale. The criteria used are satisfactory primordial…
We critically reconsider our recent observation of confining string shrinkage in pure glue SU(2) lattice gauge theory near the continuum limit. Using the advanced numerical techniques we argue that imperfect overlap with the string ground…
Time-dependent solutions of supergravity and string theory are studied. The examples are obtained from de Sitter deformation of gauge/gravity dualities, analytical continuation of static solutions, and ``exactly solvable'' worldsheet…
We show that in 6d models localizing gravity on stringlike defects and satisfying the dominant energy condition, the metric exterior to the string inevitably depends on the string's thickness. As a consequence, in the limit of thin string…
We attempt to understand the fate of spacelike gravitational singularities in string theory via the quantum stress tensor for string matter in a fixed background. We first approximate the singularity with a homogeneous anisotropic…
Different compactifications of six-dimensional string theory on $M_4 \times T^2$ are considered. Particular attention is given to the roles of the reduced modes as the $S$ and $T$ fields. It is shown that there is a discrete group of…
We perform a systematic analysis of the soft supersymmetry-breaking terms arising from four-dimensional strings. The analysis does not assume any specific supersymmetry-breaking mechanism but provides a means of parametrizing our ignorance…
We show that the minimal supergravity extension of the standard model automatically contains topologically stable electroweak strings if the hidden sector is invariant under the exact R-symmetry. These defects appear in the form of the…
We construct cosmological spacetimes with null Kasner-like singularities as purely gravitational solutions with no other background fields turned on. These can be recast as anisotropic plane-wave spacetimes by coordinate transformations. We…
We consider 4d N=1 theories arising from F-theory compactifications on elliptically-fibered Calabi-Yau four-folds and investigate the non-perturbative structure of their scalar field space beyond the large volume/large complex structure…
I discuss several aspects of strings as unified theories. After recalling the difficulties of the simplest supersymmetric grand unification schemes I emphasize the distinct features of string unification. An important role in constraining…
Three subjects are considered here: a self-dual non-critical string that appears in Type IIB superstring theory at points in ${\rm K3}$ moduli space where the Type IIA theory has extended gauge symmetry; a conformal field theory singularity…
Key issues of classical and quantum strings in gravitational plane waves, shock waves and spacetime singularities are synthetically understood. This includes the string mass and mode number excitations, energy-momentum tensor, scattering…
We study the annulus amplitudes of (p,q) minimal string theory. Focusing on the ZZ-FZZT annulus amplitude as a target-space probe of the ZZ brane, we use it to confirm that the ZZ branes are localized in the strong-coupling region. Along…
We study some conditions for the hierarchy $m_{3/2} << M_P$ to occur naturally in a generic effective supergravity theory. Absence of fine-tuning and perturbative calculability require that the effective potential has a sliding gravitino…
It is known that string theory compactifications leading to low energy effective theories with different chiral matter content ({\it e.g.} different numbers of standard model generations) are connected through phase transitions, described…
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)…