Related papers: Recent Developments in String Theory: From Perturb…
Nonperturbative effects in string theory are usually associated to D-branes. In many cases it can be explicitly shown that D-brane instantons control the large-order behavior of string perturbation theory, leading to the well-known (2g)!…
String duality suggests a fascinating juxtoposition of world-volume and target-space dynamics. This is particularly apparent in the $D$-brane description of stringy solitons that forms a major focus of this article (which is {\it not}…
We study aspects of the new phases of M-theory recently conjectured using generalised dualities such as timelike T-duality. Our focus is on brane solutions. We derive the intersection rules in a general framework and then specialise to the…
A detailed review of recent developments in the topological classification of D-branes in superstring theory is presented. Beginning with a thorough, self-contained introduction to the techniques and applications of topological K-theory,…
We study the relationship between static p-brane solitons and cosmological solutions of string theory or M-theory. We discuss two different ways in which extremal p-branes can be generalised to non-extremal ones, and show how wide classes…
The dynamics of superstring, supergravity and M theories and their compactifications are probed by studying the various perturbation theories that emerge in the strong and weak coupling limits for various directions in coupling constant…
Duality symmetries in M--theory and string theory are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the way in which string winding modes and brane wrapping modes can lead to new spatial dimensions. Brane world-volumes wrapping around Lorentzian…
This dissertation consists of a comprehensive and pedagogical review of Maldacena's original derivation of the AdS/CFT correspondence and the main topics of string theory necessary to understand it. The large $N$ expansion of Yang-Mills…
There has been spectacular progress in the development of string and superstring theories since its inception thirty years ago. Development in this area has never been impeded by the lack of experimental confirmation. Indeed, numerous bold…
We explore the interplay between black holes in supergravity and quantum field theories on the world-volumes of D-branes. A brief summary of black hole entropy calculations for D-brane black holes is followed by a detailed study of particle…
This is an expanded version of a talk given at ``{\em IInd Recontre du Vietnam}'' held at Ho Chi Minh City in October, 1995. We discuss several aspects of black hole entropy in string theory. We first explain why the geometric entropy in…
Synopsis: (i) how superstring theories are unified by M-theory; (ii) how superstring and supermembrane properties follow from the D=10 and D=11 supersymmetry algebras; (iii) how D=10 and D=11 supergravity theories determine the strong…
In these lectures we start with a pedagogical introduction of the properties of open and closed superstrings and then, using the open/closed string duality, we construct the boundary state that provides the description of the maximally…
A review of various aspects of superstrings in background electromagnetic fields is presented. Topics covered include the Born-Infeld action, spectrum of open strings in background gauge fields, the Schwinger mechanism, finite-temperature…
In this informal review for non-specalists we discuss the construction of maximally supersymmetric gauge theories that arise on the worldvolumes branes in String Theory and M-Theory. Particular focus is made on the relatively recent…
The perturbative analysis of models of open and closed superstrings presents a number of surprises. For instance, variable numbers of antisymmetric tensors ensure their consistency via generalized Green-Schwarz cancellations and a novel…
At the present time, string theory (and its generalizations) remain relatively abstruse subjects to the particle phenomenologist and experimentalist. Yet, striking developments of the last two years offer hope that a fundamental…
We review recent developments in duality symmetric string theory. We begin with the world sheet doubled formalism which describes strings in an extended space time with extra coordinates conjugate to winding modes. This formalism is…
$P$-brane solutions of low-energy string actions have traditionally provided the first evidence for the existence of string dualities, in which fundamental and solitonic $p$-branes are identified with perturbative and non-perturbative BPS…
Well-defined non-perturbative formulations of the physics of string theories, sometimes with D-branes present, were identified over a decade ago, from a careful study of double scaled matrix models. Following recent work which recasts some…