Related papers: Note on W3 Realizations of the Bosonic String
We show how to relate the parafermions that occur in the $W_3$ string to the standard construction of parafermions. This result is then used to show that one of the screening charges that occurs in parafermionic theories is precisely the…
We study a modified bosonic string theory that has a pressureless ``dust'' field on the string worldsheet. The dust is a real scalar field with unit gradient which breaks conformal invariance. Hamiltonian analysis reveals a time…
These lectures present a general critical assessment of various frameworks for quantum gravity, with particular emphasis on string theory. The topics discussed cover field-theoretical approaches to quantum gravity, anomalies, bosonic and…
I briefly summarize a recent research program aiming to probe the landscape of low-energy phases of string theory from a global perspective. Borrowing conceptual lessons from the swampland program, I will discuss how the effective theories…
String theory is the leading contemporary framework to explore the synthesis of quantum mechanics with gravity. String phenomenology aims to study string theory while maintaining contact with observational data. The fermionic $Z_2\times…
A modified rigid string theory with infrared behaviour governed by a nontrivial fixed point is presented.
We apply non-linear WKB analysis to the study of the string equation. Even though the solutions obtained with this method are not exact, they approximate extremely well the true solutions, as we explicitly show using numerical simulations.…
The $\mathbf{O}(D,D)$ covariant generalized metric, postulated as a truly fundamental variable, can describe novel geometries where the notion of Riemannian metric ceases to exist. Here we quantize a closed string upon such backgrounds and…
We study the interaction of several types of static straight cosmic strings, including local strings, global strings, and bosonic superconducting strings with and without magnetic currents. First, we evaluate the interaction energy of two…
Classical solutions describing strings endowed with an electric charge and carrying a constant electromagnetic current are constructed within the bosonic sector of the Electroweak Theory. For any given ratio of the Higgs boson mass to W…
We show that the $c=1$ bosonic string theory at finite temperature has two matrix-model realizations related by a kind of duality transformation. The first realization is the standard one given by the compactified matrix quantum mechanics…
We obtain the complete physical spectrum of the $W_N$ string, for arbitrary $N$. The $W_N$ constraints freeze $N-2$ coordinates, while the remaining coordinates appear in the currents only {\it via} their energy-momentum tensor. The…
The group theoretic method is extended to include fields with a background charge. This formalism is used to compute the tree level scattering for $W_3$ strings. The scattering amplitudes involve Ising model correlation functions. A…
String theory on curved backgrounds has received much attention on account of both its own interest, and of its relation with gauge theories. Despite the progress made in various directions, several quite elementary questions remain…
We show that the Zamolodchikov's and Polyakov-Bershadsky nonlinear algebras $W_3$ and $W_3^{(2)}$ can be embedded as subalgebras into some {\em linear} algebras with finite set of currents. Using these linear algebras we find new field…
Berkovits and Vafa recently showed that critical string theories can be considered as critical superstring theories with a special choice of background. The embedding of the Virasoro algebra into the super-Virasoro algebra involved in this…
We study circle compactifications of tensionless bosonic string theory, both at the classical and the quantum level. The physical state condition for different representations of BMS$_3$, the worldsheet residual gauge symmetry for…
This dissertation consists of a comprehensive and pedagogical review of Maldacena's original derivation of the AdS/CFT correspondence and the main topics of string theory necessary to understand it. The large $N$ expansion of Yang-Mills…
We propose a method of constructing a gauge invariant canonical formulation for non-gauge classical theory which depends on a set of parameters. Requirement of closure for algebra of operators generating quantum gauge transformations leads…
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…