Related papers: Problematic aspects of string theories and their p…
We review recent developments in the field of string cosmology with particular emphasis on open problems having to do mainly with geometric asymptotics and singularities. We discuss outstanding issues in a variety of currently popular…
We study a modified bosonic string theory that has a pressureless ``dust'' field on the string worldsheet. The dust is a real scalar field with unit gradient which breaks conformal invariance. Hamiltonian analysis reveals a time…
We confront the problem of giving a fundamental definition to perturbative string theory in spacetimes with totally compact space (taken to be a torus for simplicity, though the nature of the problem is very general) and non-compact time.…
Cosmic strings, a hot subject in the 1980's and early 1990's, lost its appeal when it was found that it leads to inconsistencies in the power spectrum of the measured cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. However,…
This is a pedagogical review article surveying the various approaches towards understanding gauge coupling unification within string theory. As is well known, one of the major problems confronting string phenomenology has been an apparent…
Global consistency of string compactifications places constraints on the chiral matter spectrum of a gauge theory which include those necessary for the absence of cubic nonabelian anomalies, but also contain some additional conditions. In…
This is a set of lectures on the gauge/string duality and non-critical strings, with a particular emphasis on the discretized, or matrix model, approach. After a general discussion of various points of view, I describe the 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…
We construct bosonic string theories, RNS string theories and heterotic string theories on flat supermanifolds. For these string theories, we show cancellations of the central charges and modular invariance. Bosonic string theories on…
We begin by outlining the ancient puzzle of off shell currents and infinite size particles in a string theory of hadrons. We then consider the problem from the modern AdS/CFT perspective. We argue that although hadrons should be thought of…
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…
String theory posesses numerous axion candidates. The recent realization that the compactification radius in string theory might be large means that these states can solve the strong CP problem. This still leaves the question of the…
In this paper, we propose a possible new approach towards solving the gauge hierarchy problem without supersymmetry and without extra spacetime dimensions. This approach relies on the finiteness of string theory and the conjectured…
We derive the universal threshold corrections in heterotic string theory including a continuous Wilson line. Unification of gauge and gravitational couplings is shown to be possible even within perturbative string theory. The relative…
We develop an exact functional method applied to the bosonic string on a shperical world sheet, in graviton and dilaton backgrounds, consistent with conformal invariance. In this method, quantum fluctuations are controled by the amplitude…
Recent developments in string theory have reinforced the notion that the space of stable supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric string vacua fills out a ``landscape'' whose features are largely unknown. It is then hoped that progress in…
We construct $\mathbb{Z}_N$ orbifolds of the ten-dimensional heterotic string theories appropriate for implementing the stringy replica method for the calculation of quantum entanglement entropy. A novel feature for the heterotic string is…
The interplay between string theory and cosmology is very promising. Since string theory will yield a quantum theory of space-time and unify all forces of nature, it has the potential of addressing many of the conceptual problems of the…
A study is made of the implications of heterotic string $T$-duality and extended gauge symmetry for the conjectured equivalence of heterotic and Type I superstrings. While at first sight heterotic string world-sheet dynamics appears to…
We investigate the string solutions and cosmological implications of the gauge ${\rm U(1)_Z}\,\times$ global ${\rm U(1)_{PQ}}$ model. With two hierarchical symmetry-breaking scales, the model exhibits three distinct string solutions: a…