Related papers: The Dilaton Theorem and Closed String Backgrounds
We review some formal aspects of cosmological solutions in closed string theory with duality symmetric ``matter'' following recent paper with C. Vafa (HUTP-91/A049). We consider two models : when the matter action is the classical action of…
Demanding $O(d,d)$-duality covariance, Hohm and Zwiebach have written down the action for the most general cosmology involving the metric, $b$-field and dilaton, to all orders in $\alpha'$ in the string frame. Remarkably, for an FRW…
A broad class of two-dimensional loop-corrected dilaton gravity models exhibit cosmological solutions that interpolate between the string perturbative vacuum and a background with asymptotically flat metric and linearly growing dilaton. The…
We consider the background-free quantum gravity based on conformal gravity with the Riegert-Wess-Zumino action, which is formulated in terms of a conformal field theory. Employing the $R \times S^3$ background in practice, we construct the…
We investigate in detail the critical $N{=}2$ fermionic string with and without a global ${\bf Z}_2$ twist. An analysis of BRST cohomology shows that twisted sectors contain massless `spacetime' fermions which are {\it non-local\/} with…
The virtual black hole phenomenon, which has been observed previously in specific models, is established for generic 2D dilaton gravity theories with scalar matter. The ensuing effective line element can become asymptotically flat only for…
The appearance of space/time non-commutativity in theories of open strings with a constant non-diagonal background metric is considered. We show that, even if the space-time coordinates commute, when there is a metric with a time-space…
The cosmological constant problem and the compatibility of gravity with quantum mechanics are the two most pressing problems in all of gravitational theory. While string theory nicely addresses the latter, it has so far failed to provide…
We present an analysis on the BRST symmetry transformations of the Horava theory under the BFV quantization, both in the nonprojectable and projectable cases. We obtain that the BRST transformations are intimately related to a particular…
We consider the dilaton in the strong string coupling limit and elaborate on the original idea of Damour and Polyakov whereby the dilaton coupling to matter has a minimum with a vanishing value at finite field-value. Combining this type of…
We study worldsheet conformal invariance for bosonic string propagating in a curved background using the hamiltonian formalism. In order to formulate the problem in a background independent manner we first rewrite the worldsheet theory in a…
Non-geometric string backgrounds were proposed to be related to a non-associative deformation of the space-time geometry. In the flux formulation of double field theory (DFT), the structure of mathematically possible non-associative…
According to the correspondence principle of Horowitz and Polchinski, many black holes in string theory are continuously deformed to usual quantum systems involving D-branes and fundamental strings when the string coupling becomes…
We study the non-minimal pure spinor string in a curved background. We find that the minimal BRST invariance implies the existence of a non-trivial stress-energy tensor for the minimal and non-minimal variables in the heterotic curved…
After a brief review of critical string theory in trivial backgrounds we begin with introduction to strings in non--trivial backgrounds and noncritical string theory. In particular, we relate the latter to critical string theory in a linear…
One of the few firm predictions of string theory is the existence of a massless scalar field coupled to gravity, the dilaton. In its presence, the value of the fundamental constants of the universe, such as the fine-structure constant, will…
The entanglement renormalization flow of a (1+1) free boson is formulated as a path integral over some auxiliary scalar fields. The resulting effective theory for these fields amounts to the dilaton term of non-critical string theory in two…
It is known that much of the structure of string theory can be derived from three-dimensional topological field theory and gravity. We show here that, at least for simple topologies, the string diffeomorphism ghosts can also be explained in…
We develop an exact functional method applied to the bosonic string on a shperical world sheet, in graviton and dilaton backgrounds, consistent with conformal invariance. In this method, quantum fluctuations are controled by the amplitude…
We analyze the spectrum of the exactly duality and gauge invariant higher-derivative double field theory. While this theory is based on a chiral CFT and does not correspond to a standard string theory, our analysis illuminates a number of…