Related papers: W-Strings 93
This is a talk given at YKIS '95, primarily to non-string theorists. I review the evidence for string duality, the principle that any string theory at strong coupling looks like another string theory at weak coupling. A postscript…
We study a theory of particles interacting with strings. Considering such a theory for Type IIA superstring will give some clue about M-theory. As a first step toward such a theory, we construct the particle-particle-string interaction…
We give some examples in which neglecting the interactions between particles or truncating the description of a black hole to the spherically symmetric mode leads to unphysical results. The restoration of the interactions and higher angular…
I review the physical properties of different vacua in the background independent open string field theory. Talk presented at Strings 2001, Mumbai, India, http://theory.theory.tifr.res.in/strings/Proceedings/#sha-s.
This is an invited contribution to the Special Issue of "Foundations of Physics" titled "Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations". I have been asked to assess string theory as an outsider, and to compare it with the…
Using as a springboard a three-way debate between theoretical physicist Lee Smolin, philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright and myself, I address in layman's terms the issues of why we need a unified theory of the fundamental interactions…
In this short talk we review basic ideas of string field theory with the emphasis on the recent developments. We show how without too much technicality one can look for analytic solutions to Witten's open string field theory. This is an…
This is a non-technical talk given at the Sixth Marcel Grossman Meeting on General Relativity, Kyoto, Japan in June 1991. Some developments in string theory over the last six years are discussed together with their qualitative implications…
I review work developing the idea that string is a composite of point-like entities called string bits. Old and new insights this picture brings into the nature of string theory are discussed. This paper summarizes my talk presented to the…
These notes describe how perturbative on-shell and off-shell string amplitudes can be computed using string field theory. Computational methods for approximating arbitrary amplitudes are discussed, and compared with standard world-sheet…
We give the general form of the vertex corresponding to the interaction of an arbitrary number of strings. The technique employed relies on the ``comma" representation of String Field Theory where string fields and interactions are…
The quantum string field theoretic structure of interactive phenomena is discussed
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…
These notes are devoted to the intriguing and still largely unexplored links between String Theory and Higher Spins, the types of excitations that lie behind its most cherished properties. A closer look at higher-spin fields provides some…
Thermodynamical aspects of string theory are reviewed and discussed.
This talk considers possible lessons of string theory for low energy physics. These are of two types. First, assuming that string theory is the correct underlying theory of all interactions, we ask whether there are any generic predictions…
String Theory includes a plethora of higher-spin excitations, which clearly lie behind its most spectacular properties, but whose detailed behavior is largely unknown. Conversely, string interactions contain much useful information on…
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…
The cosmological constant and electroweak hierarchy problem have been a great inspiration for research. Nevertheless, the resolution of these two naturalness problems remains mysterious from the perspective of a low-energy effective field…
We study a $U(N)$-invariant vector+matrix chain with the color structure of a lattice gauge theory with quarks and interpret it as a theory of open andclosed strings with target space $\Z$. The string field theory is constructed as a…