Related papers: Who changes the string coupling ?
We study the dilaton/axion configuration near D-instantons in type IIB superstring theory. In the field theory limit, the metric near the instantons becomes flat in the string frame as well as in the Einstein frame. In the large N limit,…
The no-ghost theorem for Neveu-Schwarz string is directly proved in 0-picture. The one-to-one correspondence between physical states in 0-picture and those in the conventional (-1)-picture are confirmed. It is shown that a non-trivial…
In recent work Kachru, Kumar and Silverstein introduced a special class of non-supersymmetric type II string theories in which the cosmological constant vanishes at the first two orders of perturbation theory. Heuristic arguments suggest…
We consider one of the simplest time-dependent backgrounds in M-theory, describing the shrinking away of the M-theory dimension with the other spatial dimensions static. As the M-theory dimension becomes small, the situation becomes…
In these introductory notes I explain some basic ideas in string field theory. These include: the concept of a string field, the issue of background independence, the reason why minimal area metrics solve the problem of generating all…
String theory is the most promising candidate for the theory unifying all interactions including gravity. It has an extremely difficult dynamics. Therefore, it is useful to study some its simplifications. One of them is non-critical string…
When one uses the Dirac bracket, second class constraints become first class. Hence, they are amenable to the BRST treatment characteristic of ordinary first class constraints. This observation is the starting point of a recent…
In this paper we further elaborate on our recently proposed solution to the cosmological constant problem - Phys. Rev. D82 (2010) 044006. One of the elements of the solution is the chameleonic behaviour of the Einstein frame dilaton: the…
Our research focus on gravitational collapse of electrically charged scalar field in dilaton gravity and in the presence of phantom coupling. We examine dynamical behaviour of the scalar field coupled to Maxwell field when gravitational…
We study $c<1$ matter coupled to gravity in the Coulomb gas formalism using the double cohomology of the string BRST and Felder BRST charges. We find that states outside the primary conformal grid are related to the states of non-zero ghost…
A general prediction of string unification is the existence of exotic states with fractional charges under the free unbroken Abelian generators of the underlying GUT symmetry. Such states may be long-lived due to the existence of weakly…
The nature of duality symmetries is explored in closed bosonic string theory, particularly in the case of a four-dimensional target space admitting a one-parameter isometry. It appears that the S-duality of string theory behaves analogously…
The strong coupling limit of a quantum system is in general quite complicated, but in some cases a great simplification occurs: the strongly coupled limit is equivalent to the weakly coupled limit of some other system. In string theory…
In some string theories, e.g. SO(32) heterotic string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds, a massless field with a tree level potential can acquire a tachyonic mass at the one loop level, forcing us to quantize the theory around a new background…
We propose a new general BRST approach to string and string-like theories which have a wider range of applicability than e g the conventional conformal field theory method. The method involves a simple general regularization of all basic…
We provide a non-technical introduction to "misaligned supersymmetry", a generic phenomenon in string theory which describes how the arrangement of bosonic and fermionic states at all string energy levels conspires to preserve finite string…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. As a result, one might despair of making any statements about the theory. In the framework of a set of clearly spelled out assumptions, we show that this is not…
A personal view is given of the development of string theory out of dual models, including the analysis of the structure of the physical states and the proof of the No-Ghost Theorem, the quantization of the relativistic string, and the…
We construct a covariant quantum superstring, extending Berkovits' approach by introducing new ghosts to relax the pure spinor constraints. The central charge of the underlying Kac-Moody algebra, which would lead to an anomaly in the BRST…
The $\cal{N}=4$ supersymmetric spinning particle admits several consistent quantizations, related to the gauging of different subgroups of the $SO(4)$ $R$-symmetry on the worldline. We construct the background independent BRST quantization…