Related papers: The string scale and the Planck scale
String and field theory ideas have greatly influenced each other since the so called second string revolution. We review this interrelation paying particular attention to its phenomenological implications. Our guiding principle is the…
We suggest that some of the remarkable results on stringy dynamics which have been found recently indicate the existence of another dynamical length scale in string theory that, at weak coupling, is much shorter than the string scale. This…
Recently, a number of authors have challenged the conventional assumption that the string scale, Planck mass, and unification scale are roughly comparable. It has been suggested that the string scale could be as low as a TeV. In this note,…
These four lectures, addressed to an audience of graduate students in experimental high energy physics, survey some of the basic concepts in string theory. The purpose is to convey a general sense of what string theory is and what it has…
I review the relations between mass scales in various string theories and in M-theory. I discuss physical motivations and possible consistent realizations of large volume compactifications and low string scale. Large longitudinal…
Motivated by the fact that the string scale can be many orders of magnitude lower than the Planck mass, we investigate the required modifications in the MSSM $\beta$--functions in order to achieve intermediate ($10^{10-13}$GeV) scale…
Recent developments in string duality suggest that the string scale may not be irrevocably tied to the Planck scale. Two explicit but unrealistic examples are described where the ratio of the string scale to the Planck scale is arbitrarily…
We show that if the string scale is identifed with the intermediate scale, $M_s=\sqrt{M_W M_{Planck}} \sim 10^{11}$ GeV, then the notorious hierarchy, $M_W/M_{Planck} \sim 10^{-16}$, can be explained using only $M_c/M_s \sim 0.01 \sim…
We study some phenomenological implications of models where the scale of quantum gravity effects lies much below the four-dimensional Planck scale. These models arise from M-theory vacua where either the internal space volume is large or…
In the past three years our views on how the standard model of particle physics could be embedded into string theory have dramatically changed. The heterotic string is no longer the only possibility for such an embedding and other…
Based on well-known properties of semi-classical black holes, we show that weakly-coupled string theory can be viewed as a theory of N = 1/g_s^2 particle species. This statement is a string theoretic realization of the fact that the…
String theory suggests the existence of a minimum length scale. An exciting quantum mechanical implication of this feature is a modification of the uncertainty principle. In contrast to the conventional approach, this generalised…
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…
A class of grand unified theories with symmetry breaking scale of order $10^{16} GeV$ have a Higgs particle with mass in the $TeV$ scale. The cosmology of such theories is very different from usual. We study the cosmic strings obtained in…
Models with large extra dimensions offer the possibility of the Planck scale being of order the electroweak scale, thus alleviating the gauge hierarchy problem. We show that these models suffer from a breakdown of unitarity at around three…
Recently, a number of authors have challenged the conventional assumption that the string scale, Planck mass, and unification scale are roughly comparable. It has been suggested that the string scale could be as low as a TeV. The greatest…
Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena must…
Though the Planck scale is encountered in Quantum SuperString Theory and Quantum Gravity, it is the Compton scale of elementary particles which is encountered in the physical world. An explanation for this is given in terms of Brownian…
We argue that there may be no intermediate particle physics energy scale between the Planck mass $M_{Pl}\sim 10^{19}$ GeV and the electroweak scale $M_W \sim 100$ GeV. At the same time, the number of problems of the Standard Model (neutrino…
We point out that the spectrum and interactions of light states of the heterotic string indicate a string scale close to the GUT scale, and a mass generating scale for the gravitationally interacting states around 10^9 GeV if these states…