Related papers: Geometrical Structures of M-Theory
This talk is divided into two parts. The first part reviews some of the duality relationships between superstring theories. These relationships are interpreted as providing evidence for the existence of a unique underlying fundamental…
We describe heterotic string and M-theory realizations of the Randall-Sundrum (RS) scenario with $\cx N=2$ and $\cx N=1$ supersymmetry in the bulk. Supersymmetry can be broken only on the world brane, a scenario that has been proposed to…
The primary focus of this thesis is to investigate the mathematical and physical properties of spaces that are related by T-duality and its generalisations. In string theory, T-duality is a relationship between two a priori different string…
We analyse the dipole solution of heterotic string theory in four dimensions. It has the structure of monopole and anti-monopole connected by flux line (string). Due to growing coupling near the poles, the length of the string diverges.…
We argue that two four-dimensional strongly coupled superconformal field theories, on the Higgs branch in certain large N limits, become respectively (2,0) theory and (1,1) little string theory in six dimensions. We identify the spectrum of…
Ideas about a duality between gauge fields and strings have been around for many decades. During the last ten years, these ideas have taken a much more concrete mathematical form. String descriptions of the strongly coupled dynamics of…
A proposed duality between type IIB superstring theory on R^9 X S^1 and a conjectured 11D fundamental theory (``M theory'') on R^9 X T^2 is investigated. Simple heuristic reasoning leads to a consistent picture relating the various p-branes…
We review quantitative tests on the duality between the heterotic string on T^2 and F-theory on K3. On the heterotic side, certain threshold corrections to the effective action can be exactly computed at one-loop order, and the issue is to…
It is known for ten years that self-dual Yang-Mills theory is the effective field theory of the open N=2 string in 2+2 dimensional spacetime. We uncover an infinite set of abelian rigid string symmetries, corresponding to the symmetries and…
In this thesis, we explore two approaches to string phenomenology. In the first half of the work, we investigate M-theory compactifications on spaces with co-dimension four, orbifold singularities. We construct M-theory on C^2/Z_N by…
Motivated by the recently proposed geometric descriptions of 0A and 0B in M-theory and F-theory, we propose a web of duality among non-supersymmetric strings. In particular we argue that the distinct $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quotients of M-theory on…
The strong coupling dynamics of string theories in dimension $d\geq 4$ are studied. It is argued, among other things, that eleven-dimensional supergravity arises as a low energy limit of the ten-dimensional Type IIA superstring, and that a…
This thesis investigates two main topics concerning black holes in extensions of general relativity inspired by string theory. First, the structure of the equations of motion underlying black hole solutions is considered, in theories of…
In this work we explore the physics associated to Calabi-Yau (CY) n-folds that can be described as a fibration in more than one way. Beginning with F-theory vacua in various dimensions, we consider limits/dualities with M-theory, type IIA,…
A duality relationship between certain brane configurations in type IIA and type IIB string theory is explored by exploiting the geometrical origins of each theory in M-theory. The configurations are dual ways of realising the…
I describe our understanding of physics near the planck length, in particular the great progress of the last four years in string theory. Superstring theory, and a recent extension called M theory, are leading candidates for a quantum…
We briefly review the present status of string theory from the viewpoint of its implications on the short-distance space-time structure and black hole physics. Special emphases are given on two closely related issues in recent developments…
We analyze how string theory dualities may be described in M theory. T dualities arise from scalar-vector dualities in the worldvolume of the membrane of M theory. ``Electric-magnetic'' dualities arise from a duality transformation in M…
I review some of the recent progress in two-dimensional string theory, which is formulated as a sum over surfaces embedded in one dimension.
These are notes of a series of lectures on mirror symmetry and topological string theory given at the Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. The N=2 superconformal algebra, its deformations and its chiral ring are reviewed. A…