Related papers: Recent Developments in String Theory
This talk considers possible lessons of string theory for low energy physics. These are of two types. First, assuming that string theory is the correct underlying theory of all interactions, we ask whether there are any generic predictions…
The theory of quadratic forms and class numbers has connections to many classical problems in number theory. Recently, class numbers have appeared in the study of black holes in string theory. We describe this connection and raise questions…
In a recent paper, Polchinski and Strassler found a string theory dual of a gauge theory with reduced supersymmetry. Motivated by their approach, we perturb the $\N=8$ theory living on a set of N M2 branes to $\N=2$, by adding fermion mass…
Two dimensional string theory is known to have an infinite dimensional symmetry, both in the continuum formalism as well as in the matrix model formalism. We develop a systematic procedure for computing the conserved charges associated with…
String theory avoids the ultraviolet infinities that arise in trying to quantize gravity. It is also more predictive than conventional quantum field theory, one aspect of this being the way that it contributed to the emergence of the…
In this talk I will survey some of the basic facts about superstring theories in 10 dimensions and the dualities that relate them to M theory in 11 dimensions. Then I will mention some important unresolved issues.
We demonstrate that the spectrum of any consistent string theory in $D$ dimensions must satisfy a number of supertrace constraints: $ Str~M^{2n}=0 $ for $0 \leq n < D/2-1$, integer $n$. These results hold for a large class of string…
We review the recent developments in superstrings. We start with a brief summary of various consistent superstring theories and discuss T-duality which necessarily leads to the presence of D-branes. The properties of D-branes are summarized…
There are at present two known string theories in $(2,2)$ dimensions. One of them is the well known $N=2$ string, and the other one is a more recently constructed $N=1$ spacetime supersymmetric string. They are both based on certain…
Thin enough black strings are unstable to growing ripples along their length, eventually pinching and forming a naked singularity on the horizon. We investigate how string theory can resolve this singularity. First, we study the…
We investigate the black hole - string transition in the two-dimensional Lorentzian black hole system from the exact boundary states that describe the rolling D-brane falling down into the two-dimensional black hole. The black hole - string…
We review some recent developments in the theory of $W_\infty$. We comment on its relevance to lower-dimensional string theory.
This thesis is devoted to trying to find a microscopic quantum description of black holes. We consider black holes in string theory which is a quantum theory of gravity. We find that the ``area law'' black hole entropy for extremal and…
We discuss dark energy, dark matter and the hierarchy problem in the context of a general non-commutative formulation of string theory. In this framework dark energy is generated by the dynamical geometry of the dual spacetime while dark…
We demonstrate that string consistency in four spacetime dimensions leads to a spectrum of string states which satisfies the supertrace constraints Str(M^0)=0 and Str(M^2)=\Lambda at tree level, where \Lambda is the one-loop string…
String theory has not even come close to a complete formulation after half a century of intense research. On the other hand, a number of features of the theory suggest that the theory, once completed, may be a final theory. It is argued in…
We point out that the recent conjecture relating large N gauge theories to string theory in anti-de Sitter spaces offers a resolution in principle of many problems in black hole physics. This is because the gauge theory also describes…
We review the existence, formation and properties of cosmic strings in string theory, the wide variety of observational techniques that are being employed to detect them, and the constraints that current observations impose on string theory…
Recent developments in superstring theory have led to major advances in understanding. After reviewing where things stood earlier, we sketch the impact of recently identified dualities and D-branes, as well as a hidden eleventh dimension.
The Beckenstein-Hawking black hole entropy in string theory and its extensions, as expressed in terms of charges that correspond to central extensions of the supersymmetry algebra, has more symmetries than U-duality. It is invariant under…