Related papers: Geometrical Structures of M-Theory
String theory and supersymmetry are theoretical ideas that go beyond the standard model of particle physics and show promise for unifying all forces. After a brief introduction to supersymmetry, we discuss the prospects for its experimental…
There is evidence that string theory possesses a large discretuum of stable and/or metastable ground states, with zero or four supersymmetries in four dimensions. I discuss critically the nature of this evidence. Assuming this "landscape"…
We describe some recent progress in understanding and formulating string theory which is based on extensive studies of strings in lower (D=2) dimension. At the center is a large $W_{\infty}$ symmetry that appears most simply in the matrix…
We study the three string junctions and string networks in Type IIB string theory by explicity constructing the holomorphic embeddings of the M-theory membrane that describe such configurations. The main feature of them such as…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. In light of recent developments in string duality, this means that the ``real world'' should correspond to a region of the classical moduli space which admits no weak…
We use string duality to describe instanton induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications with additional background fields. Dynamical supersymmetry breaking by space-time instantons in the heterotic string theory…
This is an expanded and updated version of a talk given at the Conference on Topics in Geometry and Physics at the University of Southern California, November 6, 1992. It is a survey talk, aimed at mathematicians AND physicists, which…
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…
We summarize the results obtained in the last few years about permutation orbifolds in two-dimensional conformal field theories, their application to string theory and their use in the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string…
There are many conceivable possibilities of embedding the MSSM in string theory. These proceedings describe an approach which is based on grand unification in higher dimensions. This allows one to obtain global string-derived models with…
We continue the study of heterotic non-Abelian BPS-saturated flux tubes (strings). Previously, such solutions were obtained in U(N) gauge theories: N=2 supersymmetric QCD deformed by superpotential terms \mu A^2 breaking N=2 supersymmetry…
We explore how various anomaly-cancelling terms in M-theory and string theory transform non-trivially into each other under duality. Specifically, we study the phenomenon in which bulk terms in M-theory get mapped to brane worldvolume terms…
In a recent paper, Polchinski and Strassler found a string theory dual of a gauge theory with reduced supersymmetry. Motivated by their approach, we perturb the $\N=8$ theory living on a set of N M2 branes to $\N=2$, by adding fermion mass…
These lectures are intended as an introduction to some of the basic aspects of string solitons, duality and black holes. We begin with a discussion of the role of classical solutions in duality, then focus on string/string duality and…
Chiral gauge theories in two dimensions with (0,2) supersymmetry admit a much broader, and more interesting, class of vacuum solutions than their better studied (2,2) counterparts. In this thesis, we will explore some of the possibilities…
We construct a hierarchy of supersymmetric string theories by showing that the general N-extended superstrings may be viewed as a special class of the (N+1)-extended superstrings. As a side result, we find a twisted (N+2) superconformal…
We discuss the possibility that quantum black holes have discrete mass spectrum. Different arguments leading to this conclusion are considered, particularly the decoupling between left and right sectors in string theory - the so-called…
I review work developing the idea that string is a composite of point-like entities called string bits. Old and new insights this picture brings into the nature of string theory are discussed. This paper summarizes my talk presented to the…
We re-examine the question of heterotic - heterotic string duality in six dimensions and argue that the $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string, compactified on $K3$ with equal instanton numbers in the two $E_8$'s, has a self-duality that inverts…
We study a family of unstable heterotic string theories in more than ten dimensions which are connected via tachyon condensation to the ten-dimensional supersymmetric vacuum of heterotic string theory with gauge group SO(32). Calculating…