Related papers: The Second Superstring Revolution
We study the dynamics governing space-time filling D-branes on Type II flux backgrounds preserving four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetry. The four-dimensional superpotentials and D-terms are derived. The analysis is kept on completely general…
The covariant field equations of ten-dimensional super D-branes are obtained by considering fundamental strings whose ends lie in the superworldsurface of the D-brane. By considering in a similar fashion Dp-branes ending on D(p+2)-branes we…
In this talk, I discuss recent developments concerning the possibility of large extra spacetime dimensions. After briefly reviewing how such dimensions can lower the fundamental GUT, Planck, and string scales, I then outline how these…
This is an introductory review on the eleven-dimensional description of the BPS bound states of type II superstring theories, and on the role of supermembranes in M-theory. The first part describes classical solutions of 11d supergravity…
We study a configuration of a parallel F- (fundamental) and D- string in IIB string theory by considering its T-dual configuration in the matrix model description of M-theory. We show that certain non-perturbative features of string theory…
Recently, a new framework for solving the hierarchy problem has been proposed which does not rely on low energy supersymmetry or technicolor. The gravitational and gauge interactions unite at the electroweak scale, and the observed weakness…
There are two main reasons for the recent renewal of interest in cosmic strings: Fundamental string-theory models suggest their existence; and there are at least two tentative observations of their possible effects. In this talk, I review…
Motivated by string-theoretic swampland conjectures, the existence of a dark fifth dimension, whose size is roughly 1 -- 10 microns, has been proposed. A great deal of supporting evidence has been presented, and definitive experimental…
We review recent progress in determining the effects of D-brane instantons in N=1 supersymmetric compactifications of Type II string theory to four dimensions. We describe the abstract D-brane instanton calculus for holomorphic couplings…
Following Sen's discovery of various stable non-BPS D-branes, K-theory has been shown to be the appropriate mathematical framework for classifying conserved D-brane charges. The classification accounts for known D-branes and predicts some…
A detailed review of recent developments in the topological classification of D-branes in superstring theory is presented. Beginning with a thorough, self-contained introduction to the techniques and applications of topological K-theory,…
This talk describes a proposal, due to Hull, for a conformally invariant limit of superstring theory in six dimensions.
We discuss some possible relationships in gauge theories, string theory and M theory in the light of some recent results obtained in gauge invariant supersymmetric quantum mechanics. In particular this reveals a new relationship between the…
BPS saturated p-branes play an important role in recent progress in understanding superstring theory and M theory. One approach to understanding the dynamics of p-branes is to formulate an effective (p+1)-dimensional world-volume theory.…
We show that the M-theory/IIA and IIA/IIB superstring dualities together with the diffeomorphism invariance of the underlying theories require the presence of certain p-brane bound states in IIA and IIB superstring theories preserving 1/2…
Recent work on solutions to the Born-Infeld theory used to describe D-branes suggests that fundamental strings can be viewed, in a certain limit, as D-branes whose worldvolumes have collapsed to string-like configurations. Here we address…
We find an eleven dimensional description of the D-2-brane of the massive type IIA theory as a first step towards an understanding of this theory in eleven dimensions. By means of a world-volume IIA/M theory duality transformation we show…
We construct and analyze D-branes in superstring theories in even dimensions less than ten. The backgrounds under study are supersymmetric R^{d-1,1} \times SL(2,R)_k / U(1) where the level of the supercoset is tuned such as to provide bona…
Perturbative superstring theory is revisited, with the goal of giving a simpler and more direct demonstration that multi-loop amplitudes are gauge-invariant (apart from known anomalies), satisfy space-time supersymmetry when expected, and…
The heterotic string occurs as a soliton of the type I superstring in ten dimensions, supporting the conjecture that these two theories are equivalent. The conjecture that the type IIB string is self-dual, with the strong coupling dynamics…