Related papers: Mass scales in string and M-theory
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…
In the modified measure formulation string or branes the tension appear as an additional dynamical degree of freedom . Furthermore in the presence of an additional background scalar field that couples to the strings and locally changes the…
Axions, grand unification, and string theory are each compelling extensions of the Standard Model. We show that combining these frameworks imposes strong constraints on the QCD axion mass. Using unitarity arguments and explicit string…
Perturbative breaking of supersymmetry in four-dimensional string theories predict in general the existence of new large dimensions at the TeV scale. Such dimensions can be consistent with perturbative unification up to the Planck scale in…
Topologically massive gravity (TMG) in three dimensions provides an interesting toy model for constructing a quantum theory of gravity. Although it can be thought of as standing as a theory in its own right, it is also of interest to see…
In this thesis, two aspects of string theory are discussed, tensionless strings and supersymmetric sigma models. The equivalent to a massless particle in string theory is a tensionless string. Even almost 30 years after it was first…
The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…
We motivate a relation between dark energy and the scale of new physics in weakly coupled string theory. This mixing between infrared and ultraviolet physics leads to a unique corner for real-world phenomenology: barring fine-tunings, we…
We discuss whether the (MSSM) unification of gauge couplings can be accommodated in string theories with a low (TeV) string scale. This requires either power law running of the couplings or logarithmic running extremely far above the string…
Over the past three decades, considerable effort has been devoted to studying the rich and diverse phenomenologies of heterotic strings exhibiting spacetime supersymmetry. Unfortunately, during this same period, there has been relatively…
String theory suggests modifications of our spacetime such as extra dimensions and the existence of a mininal length scale. In models with addidional dimensions, the Planck scale can be lowered to values accessible by future colliders.…
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)…
Nottale's special scale-relativity principle was proposed earlier by the author as a plausible geometrical origin to string theory and extended objects. Scale Relativity is to scales what motion Relativity is to velocities. The universal,…
If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested by the unification of couplings), then the theory is in a regime best described by the low energy limit of $M$-theory. We discuss some…
Supersymmetry is one of the best motivated possibilities for new physics at the TeV scale. However, both concrete string constructions and phenomenological considerations suggest the possibility that the physics at the TeV scale could be…
The landscape of possible four-dimensional low-energy effective theories arising from compactifications of string/M-theory seems vast. This might lead one to believe that any consistent-looking effective field theory coupled to gravity can…
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric…
Four-dimensional compactifications of string theory provide a controlled set of possible gauge representations accounting for BSM particles and dark sector components. In this review, constraints from perturbative Type II string…
The string equivalent of a massless particle ($m=0$) is the tensionless string ($T=0$). The study of such strings is of interest when trying to understand the high energy limit of ordinary strings. I discuss the classical $T\to 0$ limit of…
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…