Related papers: Cosmological String Backgrounds from Gauged WZW Mo…
In this paper we study the spectrum of bosonic string theory on AdS_3. We study classical solutions of the SL(2,R) WZW model, including solutions for long strings with non-zero winding number. We show that the model has a symmetry relating…
The main goal of this work is to pursue an investigation of cosmic string configurations focusing on possible consequences of the Lorentz-symmetry breaking by a background vector. We analyze the possibility of cosmic strings as a viable…
String propagation on D-dimensional curved backgrounds with Lorentzian signature is formulated as a geometrical problem of embedding surfaces. When the spatial part of the background corresponds to a general WZW model for a compact group,…
Cosmic strings, a hot subject in the 1980's and early 1990's, lost its appeal when it was found that it leads to inconsistencies in the power spectrum of the measured cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. However,…
In these lectures, I review the current status of cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings. I first discuss topological defects in the context of Grand Unified Theories, focusing in particular in cosmic strings arising as gauge theory…
Duality symmetries for strings moving in non-trivial spacetime backgrounds are analysed. It is shown that, for backgrounds generated from compact WZW and coset models, such duality symmetries are exact to all orders in string perturbation…
We argue that traditional methods of compactification of string theory make it very difficult to understand how the cosmological constant becomes zero. String inspired models can give zero cosmological constant after fine tuning but since…
Cosmic strings can arise in hidden sector models with a spontaneously broken Abelian symmetry group. We have studied the couplings of the Standard Model fields to these so-called dark strings in the companion paper. Here we survey the…
In this lecture I summarize recent developments on strings propagating in curved spacetime. Exact conformal field theories that describe gravitational backgrounds such as black holes and more intricate gravitational singularities have been…
${\rm B - L}$ cosmic strings form in a wide class of theories beyond the Standard Model which contain a ${\rm U}(1)_{{\rm B - L}}$ gauge symmetry. They can form at the end of hybrid inflation and explain, together with inflation, the Cosmic…
A string field theory(SFT) nonlocal model of the cosmological dark energy providing w<-1 is briefly surveyed. We summarize recent developments and open problems, as well as point out some theoretical issues related with others applications…
We study two-dimensional string theory on a time-dependent background, whose worldsheet description consists of Liouville theory at central charge c = 1 and Liouville theory at central charge c = 25, together with the conformal ghosts. We…
We study the spectrum of the worldsheet theory of the bosonic closed string in the massless and extremal rotating BTZ black holes. We use a hyperbolic Wakimoto representation of the SL(2,R) currents to construct vertex operators for the…
Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to…
We consider non-compact WZW models at critical level (equal to the dual Coxeter number) as tensionless limits of gravitational backgrounds in string theory. Special emphasis is placed on the Euclidean black hole coset SL(2,R)_k/U(1) when…
We obtain a large class of cosmological solutions in the toroidally-compactified low energy limits of string theories in $D$ dimensions. We consider solutions where a $p$-dimensional subset of the spatial coordinates, parameterising a flat…
The $SL(2,R)/U(1)$ gauged WZWN model is modified by a topological term and the accompanying change in the geometry of the two dimensional target space is determined. The possibility of this additional term arises from a symmetry in the…
We analyze all individual cosmic strings of various lengths in a large ensemble of the global cosmic string networks in the post-inflationary scenario, obtained from numerical simulations on a discrete lattice with $N^3 = 4096^3$. A strong…
Cosmological consequences of a string-motivated dark energy scenario featuring a scalar field coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant are investigated. We study the evolution of the universe in such a model, identifying its key properties.…
We study the connection between $N=2$ supersymmetry and a topological bound in a two-Higgs-doublet system with an $SU(2)\times U(1)_Y\times U(1)_{Y^{\prime}}$ gauge group. We derive the Bogomol'nyi equations from supersymmetry…