Related papers: Problems of Naturalness: Some Lessons from String …
We use string duality to describe instanton induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications with additional background fields. Dynamical supersymmetry breaking by space-time instantons in the heterotic string theory…
We consider the role of supersymmetry breaking soft terms that are present in generalized Narain compactifications of heterotic string theory, in which local supersymmetry is spontaneously broken, with gravitino masses being inversely…
We argue that the study of the statistics of the landscape of string vacua provides the first potentially predictive -- and also falsifiable -- framework for string theory. The question of whether the theory does or does not predict low…
We stress that a natural solution of the $\mu$ problem requires two ingredients: a symmetry that would enforce $\mu = 0$ as well as the occurence of a small breaking parameter that generates a nonzero $\mu$. It is suggested that both the…
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…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
Implications of string-string dualities to cosmological string vacua are discussed. Cosmological vacua of classical string theories comprise of disjoint classses mapped one another by scale-factor T-duality. Each classes are, however,…
In this article I first give an abbreviated history of string theory and then describe the recently-conjectured field-string duality. This suggests a class of nonsupersymmetric gauge theories which are conformal (CGT) to leading order of…
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…
We review the existence, formation and properties of cosmic strings in string theory, the wide variety of observational techniques that are being employed to detect them, and the constraints that current observations impose on string theory…
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…
We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…
In this note we show that the cosmological domain wall and the de Sitter quantum breaking problems complement each other in theories with discrete symmetries that are spontaneously broken at low energies. Either the symmetry is exact and…
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…
We show that the de Sitter quantum breaking bound when applied to QCD exposes the necessity of the axion solution to the strong CP problem. The Peccei-Quinn mechanism emerges as a consistency requirement independent of the naturalness…
This is a short account, based on a talk given at the 2024 Moriond Cosmology Conference, of where and why string theory matters in early universe cosmology. It is written for a cosmology audience predisposed to be at best sceptical, and at…
We investigate the string solutions and cosmological implications of the gauge ${\rm U(1)_Z}\,\times$ global ${\rm U(1)_{PQ}}$ model. With two hierarchical symmetry-breaking scales, the model exhibits three distinct string solutions: a…
Superstring flux compactifications can stabilize all moduli while leading to an enormous number of vacua solutions, each leading to different $4-d$ laws of physics. While the string landscape provides at present the only plausible…
In an analysis of the gravitational lensing by two relativistic cosmic strings, we argue that the formation of closed time-like curves proposed by Gott is unstable in the presence of particles (e.g. the cosmic microwave background…
We examine several issues pertaining to statistical predictivity of the string theory landscape for weak scale supersymmetry (SUSY). We work within a predictive landscape wherein super-renormalizable terms scan while renormalizable terms do…