Related papers: The Strength of String Nonperturbative Effects and…
We consider high-energy fixed-angle scattering of glueballs in confining gauge theories that have supergravity duals. Although the effective description is in terms of the scattering of strings, we find that the amplitudes are hard (power…
We study the low-energy effective Lagrangian of $N=2$ heterotic string vacua at the classical and quantum level. The couplings of the vector multiplets are uniquely determined at the tree level, while the loop corrections are severely…
In this review I discuss some basic aspects of non-perturbative string theory. The topics include test of duality symmetries based on the analysis of the low energy effective action and the spectrum of BPS states, relationship between…
We determine the units and numerical values for a class of couplings in the effective theory of perturbative heterotic string vacua, with the emphasis on the correct translation between the canonical gauge coupling g and Planck scale…
In the presence of a static quark--antiquark pair, the spectrum of the low-lying states in SU($N$) gauge theories is discrete and likely to be described, at large quark separations $r$, by an effective string theory. The expansion of the…
We discuss different formulations and approaches to string theory and $ 2d$ quantum gravity. The generic idea to get a unique description of {\it many} different string vacua altogether is demonstrated on the examples in $ 2d$ conformal,…
Nonperturbative effects in c<1 noncritical string theory are studied using the two-matrix model. Such effects are known to have the form fixed by the string equations but the numerical coefficients have not been known so far. Using the…
The theta dependent of pure gauge theories in four dimensions can be studied using a duality of large N gauge theories with string theory on a certain spacetime. Via this duality, one can argue that for every theta, there are infinitely…
We identify the gauge theory dual of a spinning string of minimal energy with spins S_1, S_2 on AdS_5 and charge J on S^5. For this purpose we focus on a certain set of local operators with two different types of covariant derivatives…
In recent work Kachru, Kumar and Silverstein introduced a special class of non-supersymmetric type II string theories in which the cosmological constant vanishes at the first two orders of perturbation theory. Heuristic arguments suggest…
Stringy effects on vacuum transitions are shown to include surprisingly large decay rates through very high potential barriers. This simple, yet counter-intuitive result will drastically modify the measure on the landscape of string vacua.
T-duality is a symmetry of the heterotic string to all orders in string perturbation theory. This results in an effective four dimensional supergravity theory with desirable features for phenomenology. T-duality, as well as, generically, an…
In this thesis we investigate some aspects of the dramatic consequences of supersymmetry breaking on string vacua. In particular, we focus on the issue of vacuum stability in ten-dimensional string models with broken, or without,…
In this article we review four-dimensional string vacua with N=2 space-time supersymmetry. In particular, we will discuss several aspects of the string-string duality between the heterotic string, compactified on $K3\times T^2$, and the…
We review some aspects of moduli in string theory. We argue that one should focus on {\it approximate moduli spaces}, and that there is evidence that such spaces exist non-perturbatively. We ask what it would mean for string theory to…
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with…
It is well known that under T-duality the sigma model dilaton (which is normally thought to be related to the string coupling constant through the simple formula $\kappa = exp <\phi >$), undergoes an additive shift. On the other hand, Kugo…
We argue that in the context of string theory a large number N of connected degenerate vacua that mix will lead to a ground state with much lower energy, essentially because of the standard level repulsion of quantum theory for the…
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…
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…