Related papers: On the Eleventh Dimension of String Theory
We explore some of the global aspects of duality transformations in String Theory and Field Theory. We analyze in some detail the equivalence of dual models corresponding to different topologies at the level of the partition function and in…
This is a very brief survey of some results in the geometry of string duality delivered at a lecture given at ICM 1998, Berlin. String Duality is the statement that one kind of string theory compactified on one space is equivalent in some…
We study duals to field theories in two dimensions with N=(4,4) SUSY. The string backgrounds reproduce certain non-perturbative aspects of the dual field theory with a large number of colors N_c and a tunable number of flavors N_f.…
We review some of the recent developments in the construction of $W$-string theories. These are generalisations of ordinary strings in which the two-dimensional ``worldsheet'' theory, instead of being a gauging of the Virasoro algebra, is a…
We discuss an explicit construction of a string dual for the Gaussian matrix model. Starting from the matrix model and employing Strebel differential techniques we deduce hints about the structure of the dual string. Next, following these…
Symmetry transformations of the space-time fields of string theory are generated by certain similarity transformations of the stress-tensor of the associated conformal field theories. This observation is complicated by the fact that, as we…
String theory in two-dimensional spacetime illuminates two main threads of recent development in string theory: (1) Open/closed string duality, and (2) Tachyon condensation. In two dimensions, many aspects of these phenomena can be explored…
When reduced from $10$ to $10-d$ dimensions tree-level string theory exhibits an $O(d,d)$ symmetry. This symmetry, which is closely related to T-duality, appears only after certain field redefinitions. We find a simple form for a subset of…
Duality transformations with respect to rotational isometries relate supersymmetric with non-supersymmetric backgrounds in string theory. We find that non-local world-sheet effects have to be taken into account in order to restore…
Duality symmetries for strings moving in non-trivial spacetime backgrounds are analysed. It is shown that for backgrounds generated from WZW and coset CFT models such duality symmetries are exact to all orders in string perturbation theory.…
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…
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…
In these lecture proceedings, we describe some of the fundamental mathematical concepts that underlie supersymmetric string theory and field theory, and their role in describing and testing dualities. In particular, we provide a pedagogical…
The past year has seen enormous progress in string theory. It has become clear that all of the different string theories are different limits of a single theory. Moreover, in certain limits, one obtains a new, eleven-dimensional structure…
We consider the ($3{+}1$)-dimensional Maxwell theory in the situation where going around nontrivial paths in the spacetime involves the action of the duality transformation exchanging the electric field and the magnetic field, as well as…
String propagation on a curved background defines an embedding problem of surfaces in differential geometry. Using this, we show that in a wide class of backgrounds the classical dynamics of the physical degrees of freedom of the string…
In this dissertation we study hidden symmetries within the framework of string theory. There are two kinds of hidden symmetries investigated in this work: the first type is associated with dynamics of quantum fields and the second type is…
T-Duality is a poorly understood symmetry of the space-time fields of string theory that interchanges long and short distances. It is best understood in the context of toroidal compactification where, loosely speaking, radii of the torus…
Toroidal backgrounds for bosonic strings are used to understand target space duality as a symmetry of string field theory and to study explicitly issues in background independence. Our starting point is the notion that the string field…
The unique spherically symmetric metric which has vanishing weyl tensor, is asymptotically desitter, and can model constant galactic rotation curves is presented. Two types of field equations are shown to have this metric as an exact…