Related papers: What is String Theory?
We give a lightning introduction to critical string theory, including the 26-dimensional bosonic string, the 10-dimensional superstrings and heterotic strings with and without spacetime supersymmetry. We also discuss open strings and…
A low energy string theory should reduce to an ordinary quantum field theory, but in reality the structures of the two are so different as to make the equivalence obscure. The string formalism is more symmetrical between the spacetime and…
The phenomenological aspects of string theory are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is given to the status of 4D string model building, effective Lagrangians, model independent results, supersymmetry breaking and duality symmetries.
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…
The past year has seen enormous progress in string theory. It has become clear that all of the different string theories are different limits of a single theory. Moreover, in certain limits, one obtains a new, eleven-dimensional structure…
These are notes of a series of lectures on mirror symmetry and topological string theory given at the Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. The N=2 superconformal algebra, its deformations and its chiral ring are reviewed. A…
Theories of the cosmological constant fall into two classes, those in which the vacuum energy is fixed by the fundamental theory and those in which it is adjustable in some way. For each class we discuss key challenges. The string theory…
At the present time, string theory (and its generalizations) remain relatively abstruse subjects to the particle phenomenologist and experimentalist. Yet, striking developments of the last two years offer hope that a fundamental…
This is a brief description of what has been accomplished and what remains to be done in the construction of a nonperturbative formulation of "The Theory Formerly Known as String". It is culled from two short talks given by the author at…
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…
We give an overview of the status of string cosmology. We explain the motivation for the subject, outline the main problems, and assess some of the proposed solutions. Our focus is on those aspects of cosmology that benefit from 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…
The first lecture gives a colloquium-level overview of string theory and M-theory. The second lecture surveys various attempts to construct a viable model of particle physics. A recently proposed approach, based on F-theory, is emphasized.
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…
We construct and fully characterize a scalar boundary conformal field theory on a triangulated Riemann surface. The results are analyzed from a string theory perspective as tools to deal with open/closed string dualities.
In addition to being a prime candidate for a fundamental unified theory of all interactions in nature, string theory provides a natural setting to understand gauge field theories. This is linked to the concept of "D-branes": extended,…
It is shown that all possible N sheeted coverings of the cylinder are contained in type IIA matrix string theory as non-trivial gauge field configurations. Using these gauge field configurations as backgrounds the large $N$ limit is shown…
We consider a class of conformal models describing closed strings in axially symmetric stationary magnetic flux tube backgrounds. These models are closed string analogs of the Landau model of a particle in a magnetic field or the model of…
We reinterpret N=(2,1) strings as describing the continuum limit of matrix theory with all spatial dimensions compactified. Thus they may characterize the full set of degrees of freedom needed to formulate the theory.
I review certain aspects of Hanany-Witten setups and other approaches used to embed (and solve) gauge theories in string theory. Applications covered include dualities in 4 and 3 dimensions, fixed points in 6 dimensions, phase transitions…