Related papers: New Moduli Spaces from String Background Independe…

We analyze exact conformal invariance of string worldsheet theory in non-trivial backgrounds using hamiltonian framework. In the first part of this talk we consider the example of type IIB superstrings in Ramond-Ramond pp-wave background.…

In perturbative string theory, one is generally interested in asymptotic observables, such as the S-matrix in flat spacetime, and boundary correlation functions in anti-de Sitter spacetime. However, there are backgrounds in which such…

We consider quantization of open string theories in linear dilaton and constant antisymmetric tensor backgrounds and discuss the noncommutativity of space-time coordinates arising in such theories, including their relationship with…

I argue that string theory compactified on a Riemann surface crosses over at small volume to a higher dimensional background of supercritical string theory. Several concrete measures of the count of degrees of freedom of the theory yield…

Just as a symmetric surface with separating fixed locus halves into two oriented bordered surfaces, an arbitrary symmetric surface halves into two oriented symmetric half-surfaces, i.e. surfaces with crosscaps. Motivated in part by the…

The problems with background independence are discussed in the example of open string theory. Based on the recent proposal by Witten I calculate the String Field Theory action in conformal perturbation theory to second order and demonstrate…

Type II string theory and M-theory admit flux configurations that break supersymmetry below the Kaluza-Klein scale. These backgrounds play a central role in most models of the string landscape. I argue that the behavior of such backgrounds…

We propose examples, which involve orbifolds by elements of the U-duality group, with M-theory moduli fixed at the eleven-dimensional Planck scale. We begin by reviewing asymmetric orbifold constructions in perturbative string theory, which…

We elaborate on the recent proposal that intersection numbers of certain cohomology classes on the moduli space of genus-zero Riemann surfaces with punctures compute tree-level scattering amplitudes in quantum field theories. The relevant…

We study the metric of minimal area on a punctured Riemann surface under the condition that all nontrivial homotopy closed curves be longer than or equal to $2\pi$. By constructing deformations of admissible metrics we establish necessary…

We use mirror symmetry to establish the first concrete arena of spacetime topology change in string theory. In particular, we establish that the {\it quantum theories} based on certain nonlinear sigma models with topologically distinct…

Noncommutativity in an open string moving in a background Neveu-Schwarz field is investigated in a gauge independent Hamiltonian approach, leading to new results. The noncommutativity is shown to be a direct consequence of the non-trivial…

We consider a two-point spatial lattice approximation to an open string moving in a flat background with B field. It gives a constrained dipole system under the influence of a vector potential. Solving and quantizing this system recover all…

Quantization of coordinates leads to the non-commutative product of deformation quantization, but is also at the roots of string theory, for which space-time coordinates become the dynamical fields of a two-dimensional conformal quantum…

We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field in detail and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is pointed out that the term with the antisymmetric background field can be…

The data of a "2D field theory with a closed string compactification" is an equivariant chain level action of a cell decomposition of the union of all moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces with each component compactified as a…

A quantizable worldsheet action is constructed for the superstring in a supersymmetric plane wave background with Ramond-Ramond flux. The action is manifestly invariant under all isometries of the background and is an exact worldsheet…

We show, using a theorem of Milnor and Margulis, that string theory on compact negatively curved spaces grows new effective dimensions as the space shrinks, generalizing and contextualizing the results in hep-th/0510044. Milnor's theorem…

We point out that the moduli sector of the $(2,2)$ string compactification with its nonperturbatively preserved non-compact symmetries is a fertile framework to study global topological defects, thus providing a natural source for the large…

In string theory it is known that abelian isometries in the sigma model lead to target space duality. We generalize this duality to backgrounds with non--abelian isometries. The procedure we follow consists of gauging the isometries of the…