Related papers: Universality and Critical Phenomena in String Defe…
We investigate Bianchi type IX ''Mixmaster'' universes within the framework of the low-energy tree-level effective action for string theory, which (when the ''stringy'' 2-form axion potential vanishes) is formally the same as the…
Columnar crystals contain defects in the form of vacancy/interstitial loops or strings of vacancies and interstitials bounded by column ``heads'' and ``tails''. These defect strings are oriented by the columnar lattice and can change size…
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies…
The goal of this work is to build a dynamical theory of defects for quantum spin systems. A kinematic theory for an indefinite number of defects is first introduced exploiting distinguishable Fock space. Dynamics are then incorporated by…
Topological defects form at cosmological phase transitions by the Kibble mechanism, with cosmic strings and superstrings having the most interesting phenomenology. A rigorous analysis of their astrophysical consequences is limited by the…
We generate point configurations (PCs) by thresholding the local energy of the Ashkin-Teller model in two dimensions (2D) and study the percolation transition at different values of $\lambda$ along the critical Baxter line by varying the…
I present arguments to the affect that the topological phase of string theory must be event-symmetric. This motivates a search for a universal string group for discrete strings in event-symmetric space-time which unifies space-time symmetry…
The weakly-coupled heterotic string is known to have problems of dilaton/moduli stabilization, supersymmetry breaking (by hidden-sector gaugino condensation), gauge coupling unification (or the Newton's constant), QCD axion, as well as…
We study the vortex lines that are a feature of many random or disordered three-dimensional systems. These show universal statistical properties on long length scales, and geometrical phase transitions analogous to percolation transitions…
Discrete and global symmetries play an essential role in many extensions of the Standard Model, for example, to preserve the proton lifetime, to prevent flavor changing neutral currents, etc. An important question is how can such symmetries…
A classical measure of string comparison is given by the longest common subsequence (LCS) problem on a pair of strings. We consider its generalisation, called the semi-local LCS problem, which arises naturally in many string-related…
The study of non-supersymmetric string theories is shedding light on an important corner of the string landscape and might ultimately explain why, so far, we did not observe supersymmetry in our universe. We review how misaligned…
We investigate the Hagedorn transitions of string networks with Y-junctions as may occur, for example, with (p,q) cosmic superstrings. In a simplified model with three different types of string, the partition function reduces to three…
We study the metal-insulator transition on a three dimensional quantum percolation model by analyzing energy level statistics. The quantum percolation threshold $\pq$, which is larger than the classical percolation threshold $\pc$, becomes…
In this paper, which is a revised version of the author's PhD thesis, we analyze two different applications of string theory. In the first part, we focus on four dimensional compactifications of Type II string theories preserving N=1…
The complete quantum theory of closed superstrings is constructed using string diagrams endowed with metric having constant curvature $-1$. The elementary string diagrams are equipped with the analytic local coordinates induced from the…
We reconsider the general properties of gravitational lensing effects induced by cosmic string systems, taking into account their equation of state and motion equations. We explicitly show that the deflection patterns induced by a string is…
If there is a single underlying "theory of everything" which in some limits of its "moduli space" reduces to the five weakly coupled string theories in 10D, and 11D SUGRA, then it is possible that all six of them have some common domain of…
In previous papers we have shown how strings in a two-dimensional target space reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity, thanks to an infinite set of conserved quantum numbers, ``W-hair'', associated with topological soliton-like…
We consider the dynamics of confined strings embedded in a gapless four-dimensional theory. To this end, we examine finite-tension string-like solutions to the equations of motion of the $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^1$ non-linear sigma model. We…