Related papers: Matrix Theory
These are lecture notes for two lectures delivered at the Les Houches workshop on Number Theory, Physics, and Geometry, March 2003. They review two examples of interesting interactions between number theory and string compactification, and…
Superstring theories are the most promising theories for unified description of all fundamental interactions including gravity. However, these theories are formulated consistently only in 10 spacetime dimensions. Therefore, to connect to…
The interaction between static D0-branes at finite temperature is considered in the matrix theory and the superstring theory. The results agree in both cases to the leading order in the supersymmetry violation by temperature, where the…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
The aim of this talk is to provide non-experts with a brief and elementary introduction on the field of extra dimensions. The main motivation for extra dimensions relies on the more fundamental string theories that predict ten (or eleven)…
The simplest toroidally compactified string theories exhibit a duality between large and small radii: compactification on a circle, for example, is invariant under R goes to 1/R. Compactification on more general Lorentzian lattices (i.e.…
This presentation is intended to give a flavour of the physics to be studied and discovered by exploiting the interface between string theory, M-theory and field theory provided by the dynamics of extended objects called `branes', and their…
It is briefly explained why recent claims about the vanishing of the one-loop effective potential in Matrix theory, thus invalidating the possible agreement with supergravity, do not hold.
Recent developments in string and M theory rely heavily on supersymmetry suggesting that a revival of superspace techniques in ten and eleven dimensions may be advantageous. Here we discuss three topics of current interest where superspace…
The construction of effective field theories describing M-theory compactified on $S^1/{\bf Z}_2$ is revisited, and new insights into the parameters of the theory are explained. Particularly, the web of constraints which follow from…
We discuss theories with 16 and 8 supercharges in 6 and 7 dimensions. These theories are defined as world-volume theories of 5- and 6-branes of type II and M theories, in the limit in which bulk modes decouple. We analyze in detail the…
In these lecture notes, an introduction to superstring theory is presented. Classical strings, covariant and light-cone quantization, supersymmetric strings, anomaly cancelation, compactification, T-duality, supersymmetry breaking, and…
(from the talk:) I shall here speak on gravity in (1+1)-dimensional space-time --- lineal gravity. The purpose of studying lower dimensional theories, and specifically lower dimensional gravity, is to gain insight into difficult…
This is a review of the new manifestly spacetime-supersymmetric description of the superstring. The new description contains N=2 worldsheet supersymmetry, and is related by a field redefinition to the standard RNS description. It is…
Compactifications of the heterotic string are a viable route to phenomenologically realistic vacua and interesting new mathematics. While supergravity aspects of heterotic compactifications are largely well-understood their worldsheet…
These notes give a pedagogical introduction to D-branes and Matrix theory. The development of the material is based on super Yang-Mills theory, which is the low-energy field theory describing multiple D-branes. The main goal of these notes…
This is a brief reminder, with extensions, from a different angle and for a less specialized audience, of my presentation at WGMP32 in July 2013, to which I refer for more details on the topics hinted at in the title, mainly deformation…
Emphasis is on 2d target space (c=1 coupled to gravity). Contents: 0. Introduction, Overview, and Purpose 1. Loops and States in Conformal Field Theory 2. 2D Euclidean Quantum Gravity I: Path Integral Approach 3. Brief Review of the…
These lectures present an introduction to supergravity, and are intended for graduate students with a working knowledge of quantum field theory, including the elementary group theory needed for it, but no prior knowledge of general…
Superstring compactifications have been vigorously studied for over four decades, and have flourished involving an active iterative feedback between physics and (complex) algebraic geometry. This led to an unprecedented wealth of…