Related papers: String Duality--A Colloquium
Montonen and Olive's conjecture in 1977 that some theories possess a duality symmetry that interchanges the electrically charged particle with that of negatively charged t' Hooft-Polyakov monopoles which relates strong coupling to weak…
An action for a string and a particle with two timelike dimensions is proposed and analyzed. Due to new gauge symmetries and associated constraints, the motion of each system in the background of the other is equivalent to effective motion…
A connection between non-perturbative formulations of quantum gravity and perturbative string theory is exhibited, based on a formulation of the non-perturbative dynamics due to Markopoulou. In this formulation the dynamics of spin network…
It is argued that quantum gravity has an interpretation as a topological field theory provided a certain constraint from the path intergral measure is respected. The constraint forces us to couple gauge and matter fields to gravity for…
After briefly reviewing basic concepts of perturbative string theory, we explain in simple terms some of the new findings that created excitement among the string physicists. These developments include non-perturbative dualities and a…
The properties of a string-inspired two-dimensional theory of gravity are studied. The post-Newtonian and weak-field approximations, `stellar' structure and cosmological solutions of this theory are developed. Some qualitative similarities…
In this article the quantum fluctuation of a rigid and static string is reported to be identical to a free quantum particle. Solutions similar to this static string have already been found in the semi-classical quantizaton of pulsating…
Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum…
The interplay between string theory and cosmology is very promising. Since string theory will yield a quantum theory of space-time and unify all forces of nature, it has the potential of addressing many of the conceptual problems of the…
We argue that quantum gravity should be a super-quantum theory, that is, a theory whose non-local correlations are stronger than those of canonical quantum theory. As a super-quantum theory, quantum gravity should display distinct…
Many string theories contain states which are not BPS, but are stable due to charge conservation. In many cases the description of these states in the strong coupling limit remains unknown despite the existence of a weakly coupled dual…
We present several pieces of evidence for strong-weak coupling duality symmetry in the heterotic string theory, compactified on a six dimensional torus. These include symmetry of the 1) low energy effective action, 2) allowed spectrum of…
After a review of some topics concerning the phenomenological applications of perturbative string theory, I discuss to what extent all of it is affected by the recent developements in string dualities.
Following Dyson's analogy between the quantum field theory and the 19th-century chemistry-both explain how but not why-one could also establish an analogy between atomic physics and string theory. Atomic physics was needed to answer the…
We consider a string theory with two types of strings with geometric interaction. We show that the theory contains strings with constant Dirichlet boundary condition and those strings are glued together by 2-d topological gravity with…
Quantum theory of 2d gravity for $c>1$ is examined as a non-critical string theory by taking account of the loop-correction of open strings whose end points are on the 2d world surface of the closed string. This loop-correction leads to a…
It has been suggested that reality works like a quantum computer, but such claims are just words if they are not backed up by sound mathematics. In pursuit of the fundamental equations I look to string theory where physicists led by Mike…
The debate between loop quantum gravity and string theory is sometimes lively, and it is hard to present an impartial view on the issue. Leaving any attempt to impartiality aside, I report here, instead, a conversation on this issue,…
Several lines of evidence suggest that quantum gravity at very short distances may behave effectively as a two-dimensional theory. I summarize these hints, and offer an additional argument based on the strong-coupling limit of the…
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…