Related papers: Particle/String field theory induced by W-gravity …
We describe some recent progress in understanding and formulating string theory which is based on extensive studies of strings in lower (D=2) dimension. At the center is a large $W_{\infty}$ symmetry that appears most simply in the matrix…
We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological…
We show that almost all string theories, including the bosonic string, the superstring and $W$-string theories, possess a twisted N=2 superconformal symmetry. This enables us to establish a connection between topological gravity and the…
We review some aspects of the construction of self-dual gravity and the associated field theory of ${\cal N}=2$ strings in terms of two-dimensional sigma models at large $N$. The theory is defined through a large $N$ Wess-Zumino-Witten…
Amidst all candidates of physics beyond the Standard Model, string theory provides a unique proposal for incorporating gauge and gravitational interactions. In string theory, a four-dimensional theory that unifies quantum mechanics and…
We argue that the light particles in string theory obey an effective quantum mechanics modified by the inclusion of a quantum-gravitational friction term, induced by unavoidable couplings to unobserved massive string states in the…
This is a broad-brush review of how string theory addresses several important questions of gravitational physics. The problem of non-renormalizability is first reviewed, followed by introduction of string theory as an ultraviolet-finite…
This thesis considers two different aspects of string theory, the tensionless limit of the string and supersymmetric sigma models. The tensionless limit is used to find a IIB supergravity background generated by a tensionless string.…
The fundamental string length, which is an essential part of string theory, explicitly breaks scale invariance. However, in field theory we demonstrated recently that the gravitational constant, which is directly related to the string…
The field content of the two dimensional string theory consists of the dynamical tachyon field and some nonpropagating fields which consist in the topological sector of this theory. We propose in this paper to study this topological sector…
Through their respective sigma models, a bosonic string and a superstring can be coupled to (super)gravity fields. These are subsequently forced to satisfy their right classical equation of motions, as a consequence of quantization of the…
String theory provides the only consistent framework so far that unifies all interactions including gravity. We discuss gravity and cosmology in string theory. Conventional notions from general relativity like geometry, topology etc. are…
We consider a string theory with two types of strings with geometric interaction. We show that the theory contains strings with constant Dirichlet boundary condition and those strings are glued together by 2-d topological gravity with…
The quantization of a free boson whose momentum satisfies a cubic constraint leads to a $c=\ha$ conformal field theory with a BRST symmetry. The theory also has a $W_\infty $ symmetry in which all the generators except the stress-tensor are…
It is hoped that these lectures will give a point of entry into that vast web of related ideas that go under the name "string theory". I start with a more or less qualitative introduction to gravity as a field theory and sketch how one…
We present a string theory that reproduces the large-$N$ expansion of two dimensional Yang-Mills gauge theory on arbitrary surfaces. First, a new class of topological sigma models is introduced, with path integrals localized to the moduli…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
In this thesis, two aspects of string theory are discussed, tensionless strings and supersymmetric sigma models. The equivalent to a massless particle in string theory is a tensionless string. Even almost 30 years after it was first…
As of today there exist consistent, gauge-invariant string field theories describing all string theories: bosonic open and closed strings, open superstrings, heterotic strings and type II strings. The construction of these theories require…
We elucidate some exact relations between light-cone and covariant string field theories on the basis of the homological perturbation lemma for $A_{\infty }$. The covariant string field splits into the light-cone string field and trivial…