Related papers: String Cosmology: Concepts and Consequences
Although the cosmological constant has primarily cosmological consequences, its smallness poses one of the basic problems in particle physics. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been…
In string theory the coupling ``constants'' appearing in the low-energy effective Lagrangian are determined by the vacuum expectation values of some (a priori) massless scalar fields (dilaton, moduli). This naturally leads one to expect a…
We complement the low-energy gravi-dilaton effective action of string theory with a non-local, general-covariant dilaton potential, and obtain homogeneous solutions describing a non-singular (bouncing-curvature) cosmology. We then compute,…
The interplay between string theory and early-universe cosmology offers promising avenues to explore high-energy regimes where the standard single-field slow-roll model may no longer provide an accurate description. One intriguing scenario…
From higher dimensional theories, e.g. string theory, one expects the presence of non-minimally coupled scalar fields. We review the notion of conformal frames in cosmology and emphasize their physical equivalence, which holds at least at a…
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with…
String theory suggests modifications of our spacetime such as extra dimensions and the existence of a mininal length scale. In models with addidional dimensions, the Planck scale can be lowered to values accessible by future colliders.…
The cosmological constant problem is turned around to argue for a new foundational physics postulate underlying a consistent quantum theory of gravity and matter, such as string theory. This postulate is a quantum equivalence principle…
We compute the cosmological reduction of general string theories, including bosonic, heterotic and type II string theory to order $\alpha'^{3}$, i.e., with up to eight derivatives. To this end we refine recently introduced methods that…
I discuss several aspects of strings as unified theories. After recalling the difficulties of the simplest supersymmetric grand unification schemes I emphasize the distinct features of string unification. An important role in constraining…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy…
`Old' String Theory is a theory of one-dimensional extended objects, whose vibrations correspond to excitations of various target-space field modes including gravity. In these lectures I will give an introduction to low-energy Effective…
The properties of string networks at scales well below the horizon are poorly understood, but they enter critically into many observables. We argue that in some regimes, stretching will be the only relevant process governing the evolution.…
All known string theory models may be obtained as partial fermionization, projection and background Ans\"atze from the original, purely bosonic string theory. The latter theory in turn has been recently shown to describe a chirally and…
The heterotic string theory, compactified to four dimensions, has been conjectured to have a duality symmetry (S duality) that transforms the dilaton nonlinearly. If valid, this symmetry could provide an important means of obtaining…
We confront the problem of giving a fundamental definition to perturbative string theory in spacetimes with totally compact space (taken to be a torus for simplicity, though the nature of the problem is very general) and non-compact time.…
We discuss three closely related questions; i)~Given a conformal field theory, how may we deform it? ii)~What are the symmetries of string theory? and iii)~Does string theory have free parameters? We show that there is a distinct…
This paper tentatively conjectures a possible physical picture that may help explain links between quantum field theories and string theories. A correspondence might occur if the stringy parameters $\tau $ and $\sigma_i $ are interpreted as…
We study cosmologies based on low-energy effective string theory with higher-order string corrections to a tree-level action and with a modulus scalar field (dilaton or compactification modulus). In the presence of such corrections it is…
General ideas of gauge/gravity duality allow for the possibility of time dependent solutions that interpolate between a perturbative gauge theory phase and a weakly curved string/gravity phase. Such a scenario applied to cosmology would…