Open bosonic string in background electromagnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nesterenko, V.V.

1987-01-01

The classical and quantum dynamics of an open string propagating in the D-dimensional space-time in the presence of a background electromagnetic field is investigated. An important point in this consideration is the use of the generalized light-like gauge. There are considered the strings of two types; the neutral strings with charges at their ends obeying the condition q 1 +q 2 =0 and the charged strings having a net charge q 1 +q 2 ≠ 0. The consistency of theory demands that the background electric field does not exceed its critical value. The distance between the mass levels of the neutral open string decreases (1-e 2 ) times in comparison with the free string, where e is the dimensionless strength of the electric field. The magnetic field does not affect this distance. It is shown that at a classical level the squared mass of the neutral open string has a tachyonic contribution due to the motion of the string as a whole in transverse directions. The tachyonic term disappears if one considers, instead of M 2 , the string energy in a special reference frame where the projection of the total canonical momentum of the string onto the electric field vanishes. The contributions due to zero point fluctuations to the energy spectrum of the neutral string and to the Virasoro operators in the theory of charged string are found

Boundary string field theory and an open string one-loop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Tae Jin; Viswanathan, K. S.; Yang, Yi

2003-01-01

We discuss the open string one-loop partition function in the tachyon condensation background of an unstable D-brane system. We evaluate the partition function by using the boundary-state formulation and find that it is in complete agreement with the result obtained in the boundary string field theory. This suggests that the open string higher loop diagrams may be produced consistently by using a closed string field theory, where the D-brane plays the role of a source for the closed string field

String theory and water waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyer, Ramakrishnan; Johnson, Clifford V; Pennington, Jeffrey S

2011-01-01

We uncover a remarkable role that an infinite hierarchy of nonlinear differential equations plays in organizing and connecting certain c-hat <1 string theories non-perturbatively. We are able to embed the type 0A and 0B (A, A) minimal string theories into this single framework. The string theories arise as special limits of a rich system of equations underpinned by an integrable system known as the dispersive water wave hierarchy. We observe that there are several other string-like limits of the system, and conjecture that some of them are type IIA and IIB (A, D) minimal string backgrounds. We explain how these and several string-like special points arise and are connected. In some cases, the framework endows the theories with a non-perturbative definition for the first time. Notably, we discover that the Painleve IV equation plays a key role in organizing the string theory physics, joining its siblings, Painleve I and II, whose roles have previously been identified in this minimal string context.

σ-models and string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randjbar-Daemi, S.

1987-01-01

The propagation of closed bosonic strings interacting with background gravitational and dilaton fields is reviewed. The string is treated as a quantum field theory on a compact 2-dimensional manifold. The question is posed as to how the conditions for the vanishing trace anomaly and the ensuing background field equations may depend on global features of the manifold. It is shown that to the leading order in σ-model perturbation theory the string loop effects do not modify the gravitational and the dilaton field equations. However for the purely bosonic strings new terms involving the modular parameter of the world sheet are induced by quantum effects which can be absorbed into a re-definition of the background fields. The authors also discuss some aspects of several regularization schemes such as dimensional, Pauli-Villars and the proper-time cut off in an appendix

String theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan Hongmo.

1987-10-01

The paper traces the development of the String Theory, and was presented at Professor Sir Rudolf Peierls' 80sup(th) Birthday Symposium. The String theory is discussed with respect to the interaction of strings, the inclusion of both gauge theory and gravitation, inconsistencies in the theory, and the role of space-time. The physical principles underlying string theory are also outlined. (U.K.)

Hermiticity and CPT in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonoda, Hidenori

1989-01-01

In the application of conformal field theory to string theory S-matrix elements are obtained from correlation functions of vertex operators. By studying the relation between the vertex operators for the incoming states and those for the outgoing states we obtain two results: First we show that hermiticity of the string vertices is equivalent to the CPT invariance of the corresponding conformal field theory. Secondly we prove that the S-matrix elements in any string theory in flat space-time background are invariant under CPT. (orig.)

Cosmological string theory with thermal energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiraishi, Kiyoshi.

1988-09-01

An attempt to construct a cosmological scenario directly from string theory is made. Cosmological string theory was presented by Antoniadis, Bachas, Ellis and Nanopoulos. They also expect loop effects on cosmological string theory. In this paper, we point out the other importance of the one-loop effect, the finite temperature effect. The equations of motion for background geometry at finite temperature is given. We address a problem on derivation of the effective action at non-zero temperature. (author)

Conformal field theory and its application to strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verlinde, E.P.

1988-01-01

Conformal field theories on Riemann surfaces are considered and the result is applied to study the loop amplitudes for bosonic strings. It is shown that there is a close resemblance between the loop amplitudes for φ 3 -theory and the expressions for string multi-loop amplitudes. The similarity between φ 3 -amplitudes in curved backgrounds and the analytic structure of string amplitudes in backgrounds described by conformal field theories is also pointed out. 60 refs.; 5 figs.; 200 schemes

String Theory and M-Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Katrin; Becker, Melanie; Schwarz, John H.

String theory is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern theoretical physics. This book guides the reader from the basics of string theory to recent developments. It introduces the basics of perturbative string theory, world-sheet supersymmetry, space-time supersymmetry, conformal field theory and the heterotic string, before describing modern developments, including D-branes, string dualities and M-theory. It then covers string geometry and flux compactifications, applications to cosmology and particle physics, black holes in string theory and M-theory, and the microscopic origin of black-hole entropy. It concludes with Matrix theory, the AdS/CFT duality and its generalizations. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in modern string theory, and will make an excellent textbook for a one-year course on string theory. It contains over 120 exercises with solutions, and over 200 homework problems with solutions available on a password protected website for lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521860697. Comprehensive coverage of topics from basics of string theory to recent developments Ideal textbook for a one-year course in string theory Includes over 100 exercises with solutions Contains over 200 homework problems with solutions available to lecturers on-line

Big bang and big crunch in matrix string theory

OpenAIRE

Bedford, J; Papageorgakis, C; Rodríguez-Gómez, D; Ward, J

2007-01-01

Following the holographic description of linear dilaton null Cosmologies with a Big Bang in terms of Matrix String Theory put forward by Craps, Sethi and Verlinde, we propose an extended background describing a Universe including both Big Bang and Big Crunch singularities. This belongs to a class of exact string backgrounds and is perturbative in the string coupling far away from the singularities, both of which can be resolved using Matrix String Theory. We provide a simple theory capable of...

Strings - Links between conformal field theory, gauge theory and gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Troost, J.

2009-05-01

String theory is a candidate framework for unifying the gauge theories of interacting elementary particles with a quantum theory of gravity. The last years we have made considerable progress in understanding non-perturbative aspects of string theory, and in bringing string theory closer to experiment, via the search for the Standard Model within string theory, but also via phenomenological models inspired by the physics of strings. Despite these advances, many deep problems remain, amongst which a non-perturbative definition of string theory, a better understanding of holography, and the cosmological constant problem. My research has concentrated on various theoretical aspects of quantum theories of gravity, including holography, black holes physics and cosmology. In this Habilitation thesis I have laid bare many more links between conformal field theory, gauge theory and gravity. Most contributions were motivated by string theory, like the analysis of supersymmetry preserving states in compactified gauge theories and their relation to affine algebras, time-dependent aspects of the holographic map between quantum gravity in anti-de-Sitter space and conformal field theories in the bulk, the direct quantization of strings on black hole backgrounds, the embedding of the no-boundary proposal for a wave-function of the universe in string theory, a non-rational Verlinde formula and the construction of non-geometric solutions to supergravity

On integrable c < 1 open-closed string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.V.

1994-01-01

The integrable structure of open-closed string theories in the (p, q) conformal minimal model backgrounds is presented. The relation between the τ-function of the closed string theory and that of the open-closed string theory is uncovered. The resulting description of the open-closed string theory is shown to fit very naturally into the framework of the sl(q, C) KdV hierarchies. In particular, the twisted bosons which underlie and organise the structure of the closed string theory play a similar role here and may be employed to derive loop equations and correlation function recursion relations for the open-closed strings in a simple way. (orig.)

String cosmology. Large-field inflation in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westphal, Alexander

2014-09-01

This is a short review of string cosmology. We wish to connect string-scale physics as closely as possible to observables accessible to current or near-future experiments. Our possible best hope to do so is a description of inflation in string theory. The energy scale of inflation can be as high as that of Grand Unification (GUT). If this is the case, this is the closest we can possibly get in energy scales to string-scale physics. Hence, GUT-scale inflation may be our best candidate phenomenon to preserve traces of string-scale dynamics. Our chance to look for such traces is the primordial gravitational wave, or tensor mode signal produced during inflation. For GUT-scale inflation this is strong enough to be potentially visible as a B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Moreover, a GUT-scale inflation model has a trans-Planckian excursion of the inflaton scalar field during the observable amount of inflation. Such large-field models of inflation have a clear need for symmetry protection against quantum corrections. This makes them ideal candidates for a description in a candidate fundamental theory like string theory. At the same time the need of large-field inflation models for UV completion makes them particularly susceptible to preserve imprints of their string-scale dynamics in the inflationary observables, the spectral index n s and the fractional tensor mode power r. Hence, we focus this review on axion monodromy inflation as a mechanism of large-field inflation in string theory.

String Theory Volume 1: An Introduction to the Bosonic String and Volume 2: Superstring Theory and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlip, S

2006-01-01

-but these are minor drawbacks. Readers will find clear answers to many 'frequently asked questions.' Are D-branes really necessary? Polchinski begins with T-duality for the closed string, and shows that the extension to open strings requires the existence of D-branes. How does string theory incorporate gravity? The two standard answers are that string theory contains a massless spin two 'graviton' and that consistent string propagation in a curved background requires that the background metric satisfy the Einstein field equations; Polchinski links the two, showing that the background metric can be viewed as a coherent state of the spin two excitations. Volume II, Superstring Theory and Beyond, extends Volume I to superstring theory, and then proceeds to treat a range of more advanced subjects: effective actions for branes, dualities and equivalences among string theories, M theory, stringy black holes, compactifications and four-dimensional field theories, and the like. The tone of this volume changes a bit-it is not as self-contained, and reads less like a textbook and more like an extended review article. I suspect, for example, that few students without a strong background in field theory will follow the discussion of anomalies in chapter 12. The change can be largely attributed to the content: the superstring is inherently more difficult than the bosonic string, and the newer material is not as deeply understood. But there are a few weaknesses in presentation as well: for instance, a discussion in chapter 11 of the relationship between symmetries and constraints omits any explanation of how one decides whether a transformation generates a symmetry or a constraint. Any two-volume book on string theory is necessarily incomplete. In his introduction, Polchinski cites the lack of a more thorough treatment of compactifications on curved manifolds. I would personally have liked to see more about noncritical strings and Liouville theory and about the Green-Schwarz superstring

Quantum field theory of point particles and strings

CERN Document Server

Hatfield, Brian

1992-01-01

The purpose of this book is to introduce string theory without assuming any background in quantum field theory. Part I of this book follows the development of quantum field theory for point particles, while Part II introduces strings. All of the tools and concepts that are needed to quantize strings are developed first for point particles. Thus, Part I presents the main framework of quantum field theory and provides for a coherent development of the generalization and application of quantum field theory for point particles to strings.Part II emphasizes the quantization of the bosonic string.

String Theory Volume 1: An Introduction to the Bosonic String and Volume 2: Superstring Theory and Beyond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlip, S [Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 (United States)

2006-10-21

, it could easily be missed-but these are minor drawbacks. Readers will find clear answers to many 'frequently asked questions.' Are D-branes really necessary? Polchinski begins with T-duality for the closed string, and shows that the extension to open strings requires the existence of D-branes. How does string theory incorporate gravity? The two standard answers are that string theory contains a massless spin two 'graviton' and that consistent string propagation in a curved background requires that the background metric satisfy the Einstein field equations; Polchinski links the two, showing that the background metric can be viewed as a coherent state of the spin two excitations. Volume II, Superstring Theory and Beyond, extends Volume I to superstring theory, and then proceeds to treat a range of more advanced subjects: effective actions for branes, dualities and equivalences among string theories, M theory, stringy black holes, compactifications and four-dimensional field theories, and the like. The tone of this volume changes a bit-it is not as self-contained, and reads less like a textbook and more like an extended review article. I suspect, for example, that few students without a strong background in field theory will follow the discussion of anomalies in chapter 12. The change can be largely attributed to the content: the superstring is inherently more difficult than the bosonic string, and the newer material is not as deeply understood. But there are a few weaknesses in presentation as well: for instance, a discussion in chapter 11 of the relationship between symmetries and constraints omits any explanation of how one decides whether a transformation generates a symmetry or a constraint. Any two-volume book on string theory is necessarily incomplete. In his introduction, Polchinski cites the lack of a more thorough treatment of compactifications on curved manifolds. I would personally have liked to see more about noncritical strings and

Big bang and big crunch in matrix string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bedford, J.; Ward, J.; Papageorgakis, C.; Rodriguez-Gomez, D.

2007-01-01

Following the holographic description of linear dilaton null cosmologies with a big bang in terms of matrix string theory put forward by Craps, Sethi, and Verlinde, we propose an extended background describing a universe including both big bang and big crunch singularities. This belongs to a class of exact string backgrounds and is perturbative in the string coupling far away from the singularities, both of which can be resolved using matrix string theory. We provide a simple theory capable of describing the complete evolution of this closed universe

String theory on the edge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorlacius, L.

1989-01-01

Open string vacuum configurations are described in terms of a one-dimensional field theory on the worldsheet boundary. The one-dimensional path integral has direct physical interpretation as a source term for closed string fields. This means that the vacuum divergences (Mobius infinities) of the path integral must be renormalized correctly. The author shows that reparametrization invariance Ward identities, apart from specifying the equations of motion of spacetime background gauge fields, also serve to fix the renormalization scheme of the vacuum divergences. He argues that vacuum configurations of open strings correspond to Caldeira-Leggett models of dissipative quantum mechanics (DQM) evaluated at a delocalization critical point. This connection reveals that critical DQM will manifest reparametrization invariance (inherited from the conformal invariance of string theory) rather than just scale invariance. This connection should open up new ways of constructing analytic and approximate solutions of open string theory (in particular, topological solitons such as monopoles and instantons). Type I superstring theory gives rise to a supersymmetric boundary field theory. Bose-Fermi cancellation eliminates vacuum divergences but the one-loop beta function remains the same as in the bosonic theory. Reparametrization invariance Ward identities dictate a boundary state normalization which yields consistent string-loop corrections to spacetime equations of motion, in both the periodic and anti-periodic fermion sectors

Heterotic string solutions and coset conformal field theories

CERN Document Server

Giveon, Amit; Tseytlin, Arkady A

1993-01-01

We discuss solutions of the heterotic string theory which are analogous to bosonic and superstring backgrounds related to coset conformal field theories. A class of exact `left-right symmetric' solutions is obtained by supplementing the metric, antisymmetric tensor and dilaton of the superstring solutions by the gauge field background equal to the generalised Lorentz connection with torsion. As in the superstring case, these backgrounds are $\\a'$-independent, i.e. have a `semiclassical' form. The corresponding heterotic string sigma model is obtained from the combination of the (1,0) supersymmetric gauged WZNW action with the action of internal fermions coupled to the target space gauge field. The pure (1,0) supersymmetric gauged WZNW theory is anomalous and does not describe a consistent heterotic string solution. We also find (to the order $\\alpha'^3$) a two-dimensional perturbative heterotic string solution with the trivial gauge field background. To the leading order in $\\alpha'$ it coincides with the kno...

Nonassociativity, Malcev algebras and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guenaydin, M.; Minic, D.

2013-01-01

Nonassociative structures have appeared in the study of D-branes in curved backgrounds. In recent work, string theory backgrounds involving three-form fluxes, where such structures show up, have been studied in more detail. We point out that under certain assumptions these nonassociative structures coincide with nonassociative Malcev algebras which had appeared in the quantum mechanics of systems with non-vanishing three-cocycles, such as a point particle moving in the field of a magnetic charge. We generalize the corresponding Malcev algebras to include electric as well as magnetic charges. These structures find their classical counterpart in the theory of Poisson-Malcev algebras and their generalizations. We also study their connection to Stueckelberg's generalized Poisson brackets that do not obey the Jacobi identity and point out that nonassociative string theory with a fundamental length corresponds to a realization of his goal to find a non-linear extension of quantum mechanics with a fundamental length. Similar nonassociative structures are also known to appear in the cubic formulation of closed string field theory in terms of open string fields, leading us to conjecture a natural string-field theoretic generalization of the AdS/CFT-like (holographic) duality. (Copyright copyright 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

String field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaku, M.

1987-01-01

In this article, the authors summarize the rapid progress in constructing string field theory actions, such as the development of the covariant BRST theory. They also present the newer geometric formulation of string field theory, from which the BRST theory and the older light cone theory can be derived from first principles. This geometric formulation allows us to derive the complete field theory of strings from two geometric principles, in the same way that general relativity and Yang-Mills theory can be derived from two principles based on global and local symmetry. The geometric formalism therefore reduces string field theory to a problem of finding an invariant under a new local gauge group they call the universal string group (USG). Thus, string field theory is the gauge theory of the universal string group in much the same way that Yang-Mills theory is the gauge theory of SU(N). The geometric formulation places superstring theory on the same rigorous group theoretical level as general relativity and gauge theory

String field theory. Algebraic structure, deformation properties and superstrings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muenster, Korbinian

2013-01-01

This thesis discusses several aspects of string field theory. The first issue is bosonic open-closed string field theory and its associated algebraic structure - the quantum open-closed homotopy algebra. We describe the quantum open-closed homotopy algebra in the framework of homotopy involutive Lie bialgebras, as a morphism from the loop homotopy Lie algebra of closed string to the involutive Lie bialgebra on the Hochschild complex of open strings. The formulation of the classical/quantum open-closed homotopy algebra in terms of a morphism from the closed string algebra to the open string Hochschild complex reveals deformation properties of closed strings on open string field theory. In particular, we show that inequivalent classical open string field theories are parametrized by closed string backgrounds up to gauge transformations. At the quantum level the correspondence is obstructed, but for other realizations such as the topological string, a non-trivial correspondence persists. Furthermore, we proof the decomposition theorem for the loop homotopy Lie algebra of closed string field theory, which implies uniqueness of closed string field theory on a fixed conformal background. Second, the construction of string field theory can be rephrased in terms of operads. In particular, we show that the formulation of string field theory splits into two parts: The first part is based solely on the moduli space of world sheets and ensures that the perturbative string amplitudes are recovered via Feynman rules. The second part requires a choice of background and determines the real string field theory vertices. Each of these parts can be described equivalently as a morphism between appropriate cyclic and modular operads, at the classical and quantum level respectively. The algebraic structure of string field theory is then encoded in the composition of these two morphisms. Finally, we outline the construction of type II superstring field theory. Specific features of the

Tadpole resummations in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitazawa, Noriaki

2008-01-01

While R-R tadpoles should be canceled for consistency, string models with broken supersymmetry generally have uncanceled NS-NS tadpoles. Their presence signals that the background does not solve the field equations, so that these models are in 'wrong' vacua. In this Letter we investigate, with reference to some prototype examples, whether the true values of physical quantities can be recovered resumming the NS-NS tadpoles, hence by an approach that is related to the analysis based on String Field Theory by open-closed duality. We show that, indeed, the positive classical vacuum energy of a Dp-brane of the bosonic string is exactly canceled by the negative contribution arising from tree-level tadpole resummation, in complete agreement with Sen's conjecture on open-string tachyon condensation and with the consequent analysis based on String Field Theory. We also show that the vanishing classical vacuum energy of the SO(8192) unoriented bosonic open-string theory does not receive any tree-level corrections from the tadpole resummation. This result is consistent with the fact that this (unstable) configuration is free from tadpoles of massless closed-string modes, although there is a tadpole of the closed string tachyon. The application of this method to superstring models with broken supersymmetry is also discussed

Closed string emission from unstable D-brane with background electric field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagami, Kenji

2004-01-01

We study the closed string emission from an unstable Dp-brane with constant background electric field in bosonic string theory. The average total number density and the average total energy density of emitted closed strings are explicitly calculated in the presence of electric field. It is explicitly shown that the energy density in the UV region becomes finite whenever the background electric field is switched on. The energy density converted into closed strings in the presence of electric field is negligibly small compared with the D-brane tension in the weak string coupling limit. (author)

Large N field theories, string theory and gravity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maldacena, J [Lyman Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (United States)

2002-05-15

We describe the holographic correspondence between field theories and string/M theory, focusing on the relation between compactifications of string/ M theory on Anti-de Sitter spaces and conformal field theories. We review the background for this correspondence and discuss its motivations and the evidence for its correctness. We describe the main results that have been derived from the correspondence in the regime that the field theory is approximated by classical or semiclassical gravity. We focus on the case of the N = 4 supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions. These lecture notes are based on the Review written by O. Aharony, S. Gubser, J. Maldacena, H. Ooguri and Y. Oz. (author)

Conformal techniques in string theory and string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giddings, S.B.

1987-01-01

The application of some conformal and Riemann surface techniques to string theory and string field theory is described. First a brief review of Riemann surface techniques and of the Polyakov approach to string theory is presented. This is followed by a discussion of some features of string field theory and of its Feynman rules. Specifically, it is shown that the Feynman diagrams for Witten's string field theory respect modular invariance, and in particular give a triangulation of moduli space. The Polyakov formalism is then used to derive the Feynman rules that should follow from this theory upon gauge-fixing. It should also be possible to apply this derivation to deduce the Feynman rules for other gauge-fixed string field theories. Following this, Riemann surface techniques are turned to the problem of proving the equivalence of the Polyakov and light-cone formalisms. It is first shown that the light-cone diagrams triangulate moduli space. Then the Polyakov measure is worked out for these diagrams, and shown to equal that deduced from the light-cone gauge fixed formalism. Also presented is a short description of the comparison of physical states in the two formalisms. The equivalence of the two formalisms in particular constitutes a proof of the unitarity of the Polyakov framework for the closed bosonic string

Generalized canonical quantization and background fields equations of motion in the Bosonic string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchbinder, I.L.; Lyakhovich, S.L.; Pershin, V.D.; Fradkin, E.S.

1991-01-01

At present, superstring theory is the only candidate to be a unified theory of all fundamental interactions. For this reason, the various aspects of the string theory have been attracting great attention. String theory has a nontrivial gauge symmetry and therefore is an interesting object from the viewpoint of application of general quantization methods. This paper discusses the bosonic string theory. The purpose of this paper is a consistent operator quantization of the theory with the action. The natural basis for it is provided by the method of the generalized canonical quantization

Why string theory?

CERN Document Server

Conlon, Joseph

2016-01-01

Is string theory a fraud or one of the great scientific advances? Why do so many physicists work on string theory if it cannot be tested? This book provides insight into why such a theory, with little direct experimental support, plays such a prominent role in theoretical physics. The book gives a modern and accurate account of string theory and science, explaining what string theory is, why it is regarded as so promising, and why it is hard to test.

Supergravity duals of matrix string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, Jose F.; Samtleben, Henning

2002-01-01

We study holographic duals of type II and heterotic matrix string theories described by warped AdS 3 supergravities. By explicitly solving the linearized equations of motion around near horizon D-string geometries, we determine the spectrum of Kaluza-Klein primaries for type I, II supergravities on warped AdS 3 xS 7 . The results match those coming from the dual two-dimensional gauge theories living on the D-string worldvolumes. We briefly discuss the connections with the N=(8,8), N=(8,0) orbifold superconformal field theories to which type IIB/heterotic matrix strings flow in the infrared. In particular, we associate the dimension (h,h-bar) (32,32) twisted operator which brings the matrix string theories out from the conformal point (R; 8 ) N /S N with the dilaton profile in the supergravity background. The familiar dictionary between masses and 'scaling' dimensions of field and operators are modified by the presence of non-trivial warp factors and running dilatons. These modifications are worked out for the general case of domain wall/QFT correspondences between supergravities on warped AdS d+1 xS q geometries and super Yang-Mills theories with 16 supercharges. (author)

String theory or field theory?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshakov, Andrei V

2002-01-01

The status of string theory is reviewed, and major recent developments - especially those in going beyond perturbation theory in the string theory and quantum field theory frameworks - are analyzed. This analysis helps better understand the role and place of string theory in the modern picture of the physical world. Even though quantum field theory describes a wide range of experimental phenomena, it is emphasized that there are some insurmountable problems inherent in it - notably the impossibility to formulate the quantum theory of gravity on its basis - which prevent it from being a fundamental physical theory of the world of microscopic distances. It is this task, the creation of such a theory, which string theory, currently far from completion, is expected to solve. In spite of its somewhat vague current form, string theory has already led to a number of serious results and greatly contributed to progress in the understanding of quantum field theory. It is these developments which are our concern in this review. (reviews of topical problems)

An introduction to conformal field theory in two dimensions and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadia, S.R.

1989-01-01

This paper provides information on The S-Matrix; Elements of conformally invariant field theory in 2-dim.; The Virasoro gauge conditions; Some representations of the Virasoro algebra; The S-matrix of the Bosonic string theory; Super conformal field theory; Superstring; superstring spectrum and GSO projection; The (β,γ) ghost system; BRST formulation; and String propagation in background fields

Notes on entanglement entropy in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Song; Numasawa, Tokiro; Takayanagi, Tadashi; Watanabe, Kento

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study the conical entropy in string theory in the simplest setup of dividing the nine dimensional space into two halves. This corresponds to the leading quantum correction to the horizon entropy in string theory on the Rindler space. This entropy is also called the conical entropy and includes surface term contributions. We first derive a new simple formula of the conical entropy for any free higher spin fields. Then we apply this formula to computations of conical entropy in open and closed superstring. In our analysis of closed string, we study the twisted conical entropy defined by making use of string theory on Melvin backgrounds. This quantity is easier to calculate owing to the folding trick. Our analysis shows that the conical entropy in closed superstring is UV finite owing to the string scale cutoff.

MHV, CSW and BCFW: field theory structures in string theory amplitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boels, Rutger; Larsen, Kasper Jens; Obers, Niels A.; Vonk, Marcel

2008-01-01

Motivated by recent progress in calculating field theory amplitudes, we study applications of the basic ideas in these developments to the calculation of amplitudes in string theory. We consider in particular both non-Abelian and Abelian open superstring disk amplitudes in a flat space background, focusing mainly on the four-dimensional case. The basic field theory ideas under consideration split into three separate categories. In the first, we argue that the calculation of α'-corrections to MHV open string disk amplitudes reduces to the determination of certain classes of polynomials. This line of reasoning is then used to determine the α' 3 -correction to the MHV amplitude for all multiplicities. A second line of attack concerns the existence of an analog of CSW rules derived from the Abelian Dirac-Born-Infeld action in four dimensions. We show explicitly that the CSW-like perturbation series of this action is surprisingly trivial: only helicity conserving amplitudes are non-zero. Last but not least, we initiate the study of BCFW on-shell recursion relations in string theory. These should appear very naturally as the UV properties of the string theory are excellent. We show that all open four-point string amplitudes in a flat background at the disk level obey BCFW recursion relations. Based on the naturalness of the proof and some explicit results for the five-point gluon amplitude, it is expected that this pattern persists for all higher point amplitudes and for the closed string.

Introduction to string theory and string compactifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

GarcIa-Compean, Hugo

2005-01-01

Basics of some topics on perturbative and non-perturbative string theory are reviewed. After a mathematical survey of the Standard Model of particle physics and GUTs, the bosonic string kinematics for the free case and with interaction is described. The effective action of the bosonic string and the spectrum is also discussed. T-duality in closed and open strings and the definition of D-brane are surveyed. Five perturbative superstring theories and their spectra is briefly outlined. Calabi-Yau three-fold compactifications of heterotic strings and their relation to some four-dimensional physics are given. Finally, non-perturbative issues like S-duality, M-theory and F-theory are also reviewed

$N=2^∗$ (non-)Abelian theory in the $\\Omega$ background from string theory

CERN Document Server

Samsonyan, Marine; Antoniadis, Ignatios

2018-01-01

We present a D-brane realisation of the Abelian and non-Abelian N = 2 ∗ theory both in five and four dimensions. We compute topological amplitudes in string theory for Ω deformed spacetime first with one and then with two parameters. In the field theory limit we recover the perturbative partition function of the deformed N = 2 ∗ theory in agreement with the existing literature.

On tadpoles and vacuum redefinitions in String Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudas, E.; Nicolosi, M.; Pradisi, G.; Sagnotti, A.

2005-01-01

Tadpoles accompany, in one form or another, all attempts to realize supersymmetry breaking in String Theory, making the present constructions at best incomplete. Whereas these tadpoles are typically large, a closer look at the problem from a perturbative viewpoint has the potential of illuminating at least some of its qualitative features in String Theory. A possible scheme to this effect was proposed long ago by Fischler and Susskind, but incorporating background redefinitions in string amplitudes in a systematic fashion has long proved very difficult. In the first part of this paper, drawing from field theory examples, we thus begin to explore what one can learn by working perturbatively in a 'wrong' vacuum. While unnatural in Field Theory, this procedure presents evident advantages in String Theory, whose definition in curved backgrounds is mostly beyond reach at the present time. At the field theory level, we also identify and characterize some special choices of vacua where tadpole resummations terminate after a few contributions. In the second part we present a notable example where vacuum redefinitions can be dealt with to some extent at the full string level, providing some evidence for a new link between IIB and 0B orientifolds. We finally show that NS-NS tadpoles do not manifest themselves to lowest order in certain classes of string constructions with broken supersymmetry and parallel branes, including brane-antibrane pairs and brane supersymmetry breaking models, that therefore have UV-finite threshold corrections at one loop

Patterns of the cosmic microwave background from evolving string networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouchet, F.R.; Bennett, D.P.; Stebbins, A.

1988-01-01

A network of cosmic strings generated in the early Universe may still exist today. As the strings move across the sky, they produce, by gravitational lensing, a characteristic pattern of anisotropies in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. The observed absence of such anisotropies places constraints on theories in which galaxy formation is seeded by strings, but it is anticipated that the next generation of experiments will detect them. (author)

String theory or field theory?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshakov, A.V.

2002-01-01

The status of string theory is reviewed, and major recent developments - especially those in going beyond perturbation theory in the string theory and quantum field theory frameworks - are analyzed. This analysis helps better understand the role and place of experimental phenomena, it is emphasized that there are some insurmountable problems inherent in it - notably the impossibility to formulate the quantum theory of gravity on its basis - which prevent it from being a fundamental physical theory of the world of microscopic distances. It is this task, the creation of such a theory, which string theory, currently far from completion, is expected to solve. In spite of its somewhat vague current form, string theory has already led to a number of serious results and greatly contributed to progress in the understanding of quantum field theory. It is these developments, which are our concern in this review [ru

Exactly solvable string models of curved space-time backgrounds

CERN Document Server

Russo, J.G.; Russo, J G; Tseytlin, A A

1995-01-01

We consider a new 3-parameter class of exact 4-dimensional solutions in closed string theory and solve the corresponding string model, determining the physical spectrum and the partition function. The background fields (4-metric, antisymmetric tensor, two Kaluza-Klein vector fields, dilaton and modulus) generically describe axially symmetric stationary rotating (electro)magnetic flux-tube type universes. Backgrounds of this class include both the dilatonic Melvin solution and the uniform magnetic field solution discussed earlier as well as some singular space-times. Solvability of the string sigma model is related to its connection via duality to a much simpler looking model which is a "twisted" product of a flat 2-space and a space dual to 2-plane. We discuss some physical properties of this model as well as a number of generalizations leading to larger classes of exact 4-dimensional string solutions.

A novel string field theory solving string theory by liberating left and right movers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, Holger B.; Ninomiya, Masao

2014-01-01

We put forward ideas to a novel string field theory based on making some “objects” that essentially describe “liberated” left- and right- mover fields X L μ (τ+σ) and X R μ (τ−σ) on the string. Our novel string field theory is completely definitely different from any other string theory in as far as a “null set” of information in the string field theory Fock space has been removed relatively, to the usual string field theories. So our theory is definitely new. The main progress is that we manage to make our novel string field theory provide the correct mass square spectrum for the string. We finally suggest how to obtain the Veneziano amplitude in our model

String theory of Calabi-Yau compactifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luetken, C.A.

1989-01-01

The conformal field theory description of Calabi-Yau compactifications of the heterotic superstring from 10 to 4 dimensions is outlined. The basic ideas of ordinary (bosonic) conformal field theory are explained before describing the exactly solvable N=2 superconformal minimal models which are needed in the tensor construction of certain particularly simple string vacua. Using a simple sigma-model construction of algebraic varieties and drawing on insight gained from the Landau-Ginzburg description of critical phenomena, it is explained how the critical behaviour of these 2-dimensional solvable quantum field theories with complex supersymmetry may be regarded as string compactification on a Calabi-Yau background. The virtue of this is to provide a tool for computing exact (tree level) results for strings in these highly non-trivial vacua, including all the Yukawa couplings needed in the construction of the low-energy effective field theory. (orig.)

Tree-level stability without spacetime fermions: novel examples in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Israel, Dan; Niarchos, Vasilis

2007-01-01

Is perturbative stability intimately tied with the existence of spacetime fermions in string theory in more than two dimensions? Type 0'B string theory in ten-dimensional flat space is a rare example of a non-tachyonic, non-supersymmetric string theory with a purely bosonic closed string spectrum. However, all known type 0' constructions exhibit massless NSNS tadpoles signaling the fact that we are not expanding around a true vacuum of the theory. In this note, we are searching for perturbatively stable examples of type 0' string theory without massless tadpoles in backgrounds with a spatially varying dilaton. We present two examples with this property in non-critical string theories that exhibit four- and six-dimensional Poincare invariance. We discuss the D-branes that can be embedded in this context and the type of gauge theories that can be constructed in this manner. We also comment on the embedding of these non-critical models in critical string theories and their holographic (Little String Theory) interpretation and propose a general conjecture for the role of asymptotic supersymmetry in perturbative string theory

Propagators in magnetic string background and the problem of self-adjoint extensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, H.J.

1993-01-01

Ghost and gluon propagators of a non-Abelian gauge theory in the background of a magnetic string are calculated. A simple technique to derive the ghost propagator is presented which makes use of the fact that the presence of a magnetic string of strength β shifts the differential operators ∂/∂φ to ∂/∂φ - iβ. In the case of a gluon propagator in the magnetic string background a difficulty arises from the presence of the magnetic field strength term involving a δ function. Here the ambiguities of a self-adjoint extension of the differential operator must be met. A proper treatment demands the specification of a limiting process starting from a string of finite thickness and well-defined structure and leading to the δ function string. Without this additional structure information about the background string the gauge field propagator is undetermined. (orig.)

On the S-matrix of type-0 string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeWolfe, Oliver; Roiban, Radu; Spradlin, Marcus; Volovich, Anastasia; Walcher, Johannes

2003-01-01

The recent discovery of non-perturbatively stable two-dimensional string back-grounds and their dual matrix models allows the study of complete scattering matrices in string theory. In this note we adapt work of Moore, Plesser, and Ramgoolam on the bosonic string to compute the exact S-matrices of 0A and 0B string theory in two dimensions. Unitarity of the 0B theory requires the inclusion of massless soliton sectors carrying RR scalar charge as asymptotic states. We propose a regularization of IR divergences and find transition probabilities that distinguish the otherwise energetically degenerate soliton sectors. Unstable D-branes can decay into distinct soliton sectors. (author)

Two field formulation of closed string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogojevic, A.R.

1990-09-01

A formulation of closed string field theory is presented that is based on a two field action. It represents a generalization of Witten's Chern-Simons formulation of 3d gravity. The action contains only 3 string interactions and no string field truncations, unlike the previous non-polynomial action of Zwiebach. The two field action is found to follow from a purely cubic, background independent action similar to the one for open strings. (orig.)

Exactly solvable string models of curved space-time backgrounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, J.G.

1995-01-01

We consider a new 3-parameter class of exact 4-dimensional solutions in closed string theory and solve the corresponding string model, determining the physical spectrum and the partition function. The background fields (4-metric, antisymmetric tensor, two Kaluza-Klein vector fields, dilaton and modulus) generically describe axially symmetric stationary rotating (electro)magnetic flux-tube type universes. Backgrounds of this class include both the ''dilatonic'' (a=1) and ''Kaluza-Klein'' (a=√(3)) Melvin solutions and the uniform magnetic field solution, as well as some singular space-times. Solvability of the string σ-model is related to its connection via duality to a simpler model which is a ''twisted'' product of a flat 2-space and a space dual to 2-plane. We discuss some physical properties of this model (tachyonic instabilities in the spectrum, gyromagnetic ratio, issue of singularities, etc.). It provides one of the first examples of a consistent solvable conformal string model with explicit D=4 curved space-time interpretation. (orig.)

Dynamics of Strings in Noncommutative Gauge Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, David J.; Nekrasov, Nikia A.

2000-01-01

We continue our study of solitons in noncommutative gauge theories and present an extremely simple BPS solution of N=4 U(1) noncommutative gauge theory in 4 dimensions, which describes N infinite D1 strings that pierce a D3 brane at various points, in the presence of a background B-field in the Seiberg-Witten limit. We call this solution the N-fluxon. For N=1 we calculate the complete spectrum of small fluctuations about the fluxon and find three kinds of modes: the fluctuations of the superstring in 10 dimensions arising from fundamental strings attached to the D1 strings, the ordinary particles of the gauge theory in 4 dimensions and a set of states with discrete spectrum, localized at the intersection point - corresponding to fundamental strings stretched between the D1 string and the D3 brane. We discuss the fluctuations about the N-fluxon as well and derive explicit expressions for the amplitudes of interactions between these various modes. We show that translations in noncommutative gauge theories are equivalent to gauge transformations (plus a constant shift of the gauge field) and discuss the implications for the translational zeromodes of our solitons. We also find the dyonic versions of N-fluxon, as well as of our previous string-monopole solution. (author)

D-branes in little string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Israel, Dan; Pakman, Ari; Troost, Jan

2005-01-01

We analyze in detail the D-branes in the near-horizon limit of NS5-branes on a circle, the holographic dual of little string theory in a double scaling limit. We emphasize their geometry in the background of the NS5-branes and show the relation with D-branes in coset models. The exact one-point functions giving the coupling of the closed string states with the D-branes and the spectrum of open strings are computed. Using these results, we analyze several aspects of Hanany-Witten setups, using exact CFT analysis. In particular we identify the open string spectrum on the D-branes stretched between NS5-branes which confirms the low-energy analysis in brane constructions, and that allows to go to higher energy scales. As an application we show the emergence of the beta-function of the N=2 gauge theory on D4-branes stretching between NS5-branes from the boundary states describing the D4-branes. We also speculate on the possibility of getting a matrix model description of little string theory from the effective theory on the D1-branes. By considering D3-branes orthogonal to the NS5-branes we find a CFT incarnation of the Hanany-Witten effect of anomalous creation of D-branes. Finally we give an brief description of some non-BPS D-branes

String Theory on AdS Spaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boer, J.

2000-01-01

In these notes we discuss various aspects of string theory in AdS spaces. We briefly review the formulation in terms of Green-Schwarz, NSR, and Berkovits variables, as well as the construction of exact conformal field theories with AdS backgrounds. Based on lectures given at the Kyoto YITP Workshop

Inflationary string theory?

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

strongly motivate a detailed search for inflation within string theory, although it has ... between string theory and observations provides a strong incentive for ..... sonably be expected to arise for any system having very many degrees of freedom.

Closed string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strominger, A.

1987-01-01

A gauge invariant cubic action describing bosonic closed string field theory is constructed. The gauge symmetries include local spacetime diffeomorphisms. The conventional closed string spectrum and trilinear couplings are reproduced after spontaneous symmetry breaking. The action S is constructed from the usual ''open string'' field of ghost number minus one half. It is given by the associator of the string field product which is non-vanishing because of associativity anomalies. S does not describe open string propagation because open string states associate and can thereby be shifted away. A field theory of closed and open strings can be obtained by adding to S the cubic open string action. (orig.)

Nonlocal String Theories on AdS3 x S3 and Stable Non-Supersymmetric Backgrounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silverstein, Eva M

2002-01-01

We exhibit a simple class of exactly marginal ''double-trace'' deformations of two dimensional CFTs which have AdS 3 duals, in which the deformation is given by a product of left and right-moving U(1) currents. In this special case the deformation on AdS 3 is generated by a local boundary term in three dimensions, which changes the physics also in the bulk via bulk-boundary propagators. However, the deformation is non-local in six dimensions and on the string worldsheet, like generic non-local string theories (NLSTs). Due to the simplicity of the deformation we can explicitly make computations in the non-local string theory and compare them to CFT computations, and we obtain precise agreement. We discuss the effect of the deformation on closed strings and on D-branes. The examples we analyze include a supersymmetry-breaking but exactly marginal ''double-trace'' deformation, which is dual to a string theory in which no destabilizing tadpoles are generated for moduli nonperturbatively in all couplings, despite the absence of supersymmetry. We explain how this cancellation works on the gravity side in string perturbation theory, and also non-perturbatively at leading order in the deformation parameter. We also discuss possible flat space limits of our construction

Deriving the four-string and open-closed string interactions from geometric string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaku, M.

1990-01-01

One of the questions concerning the covariant open string field theory is why there are two distinct BRST theories and why the four-string interaction appears in one version but not the other. The authors solve this mystery by showing that both theories are gauge-fixed versions of a higher gauge theory, called the geometric string field theory, with a new field, a string verbein e μσ νρ , which allows us to gauge the string length and σ parametrization. By fixing the gauge, the authors can derive the endpoint gauge (the covariantized light cone gauge), the midpoint gauge of Witten, or the interpolating gauge with arbitrary string length. The authors show explicitly that the four-string interaction is a gauge artifact of the geometric theory (the counterpart of the four-fermion instantaneous Coulomb term of QED). By choosing the interpolating gauge, they produce a new class of four-string interactions which smoothly interpolate between the endpoint gauge and the midpoint gauge (where it vanishes). Similarly, they can extract the closed string as a bound state of the open string, which appears in the endpoint gauge but vanishes in the midpoint gauge. Thus, the four-string and open-closed string interactions do not have to be added to the action as long as the string vierbein is included

Topics in string theory

Science.gov (United States)

Gorbatov, Elie

In the first part of the dissertation we study noncommutative field theories at finite temperature. We find evidence for winding states and observe the existence of a transition to a new phase where there is a reduction of the degrees of freedom in the non-planar sector of the theory. We emphasize that such a transition is generic and insensitive to the particulars of the UV definition of the theory. In the second part we investigate some aspects of M-theory compactifications on orbifolds. The heterotic E8 x E 8 string compactified on T4/ ZN has gauge group G x G˜ with massless states in the twisted sector charged under both factors. In the dual M-theory description on T4/ ZN x S1/Z 2 the two groups do not communicate with each other since they reside on the boundary of the eleven dimensional spacetime. This leads to a conundrum for the twisted states of the perturbative heterotic string for there does not seem to be local degrees of freedom which carry charges under both G and G˜. We propose a resolution of this apparent paradox by nonperturbative states in M-theory. In support of our argument we review the consideration of six-dimensional gauge couplings and verify the local anomaly cancellation. In order to understand the dynamical properties of these states we deform the orbifold geometry, find an equivalent string theory background, and brane engineer the low energy six-dimensional field theories. In the process we encounter many exotic and surprising phenomena which are intrinsically M-theoretic and completely invisible to the perturbative observer.

Nonrelativistic closed string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomis, Jaume; Ooguri, Hirosi

2001-01-01

We construct a Galilean invariant nongravitational closed string theory whose excitations satisfy a nonrelativistic dispersion relation. This theory can be obtained by taking a consistent low energy limit of any of the conventional string theories, including the heterotic string. We give a finite first order worldsheet Hamiltonian for this theory and show that this string theory has a sensible perturbative expansion, interesting high energy behavior of scattering amplitudes and a Hagedorn transition of the thermal ensemble. The strong coupling duals of the Galilean superstring theories are considered and are shown to be described by an eleven-dimensional Galilean invariant theory of light membrane fluctuations. A new class of Galilean invariant nongravitational theories of light-brane excitations are obtained. We exhibit dual formulations of the strong coupling limits of these Galilean invariant theories and show that they exhibit many of the conventional dualities of M theory in a nonrelativistic setting

String theory as a quantum theory of gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horowitz, G.T.

1990-01-01

First, the connection between string theory and gravity is discussed - at first sight the theory of strings seem to have nothing to do with gravity but an intimate connection is shown. Then the quantum perturbation expansion is discussed. Thirdly, string theory is considered as a classical theory of gravity and finally recent speculation about a phase of string theory which is independent of a spacetime metric is discussed. (author)

Interpolating string field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zwiebach, B.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that a minimal area problem imposing different length conditions on open and closed curves is shown to define a one-parameter family of covariant open-closed quantum string field theories. These interpolate from a recently proposed factorizable open-closed theory up to an extended version of Witten's open string field theory capable of incorporating on shell closed strings. The string diagrams of the latter define a new decomposition of the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces with punctures and boundaries based on quadratic differentials with both first order and second order poles

Discrete state moduli of string theory from c=1 matrix model

CERN Document Server

Dhar, A; Wadia, S R; Dhar, Avinash; Mandal, Gautam; Wadia, Spenta R

1995-01-01

We propose a new formulation of the space-time interpretation of the c=1 matrix model. Our formulation uses the well-known leg-pole factor that relates the matrix model amplitudes to that of the 2-dimensional string theory, but includes fluctuations around the fermi vacuum on {\\sl both sides} of the inverted harmonic oscillator potential of the double-scaled model, even when the fluctuations are small and confined entirely within the asymptotes in the phase plane. We argue that including fluctuations on both sides of the potential is essential for a consistent interpretation of the leg-pole transformed theory as a theory of space-time gravity. We reproduce the known results for the string theory tree level scattering amplitudes for flat space and linear dilaton background as a special case. We show that the generic case corresponds to more general space-time backgrounds. In particular, we identify the parameter corresponding to background metric perturbation in string theory (black hole mass) in terms of the ...

String Theory in a Nutshell

CERN Document Server

Kiritsis, Elias

2007-01-01

This book is the essential new introduction to modern string theory, by one of the world's authorities on the subject. Concise, clearly presented, and up-to-date, String Theory in a Nutshell brings together the best understood and most important aspects of a theory that has been evolving since the early 1980s. A core model of physics that substitutes one-dimensional extended ""strings"" for zero-dimensional point-like particles (as in quantum field theory), string theory has been the leading candidate for a theory that would successfully unify all fundamental forces of nature, includin

Supersymmetric Gödel Universes in string theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harmark, Troels; Takayanagi, Tadashi

2003-01-01

Supersymmetric backgrounds in string and M-theory of the Gödel Universe type are studied. We find several new Gödel Universes that preserve up to 20 supersymmetries. In particular, we obtain an interesting Gödel Universe in M-theory with 18 supersymmetries which does not seem to be dual to a pp......-wave. We show that not only T-duality but also the type-IIA/M-theory S-duality can give supersymmetric Gödel Universes from pp-waves. We find solutions that can interpolate between Gödel Universes and pp-waves. We also compute the string spectrum on two type IIA Gödel Universes. Furthermore, we obtain...

The theta-structure in string theories - 1: bosonic strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Miao.

1985-09-01

We explored the theta-structures in bosonic string theories which are similar to those in gauge field theories. The theta-structure of string is due to the multiply connected spatial compact subspace of space-time. The work of this paper shows that there is an energy band E(theta) in the string theory and one may move the tachyon out in theory by choosing some proper theta parameters. (author)

sigma model approach to the heterotic string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.

1985-09-01

Relation between the equations of motion for the massless fields in the heterotic string theory, and the conformal invariance of the sigma model describing the propagation of the heterotic string in arbitrary background massless fields is discussed. It is emphasized that this sigma model contains complete information about the string theory. Finally, we discuss the extension of the Hull-Witten proof of local gauge and Lorentz invariance of the sigma-model to higher order in α', and the modification of the transformation laws of the antisymmetric tensor field under these symmetries. Presence of anomaly in the naive N = 1/2 supersymmetry transformation is also pointed out in this context. 12 refs

String pair production in non homogeneous backgrounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolognesi, S. [Department of Physics “E. Fermi” University of Pisa, and INFN - Sezione di Pisa,Largo Pontecorvo, 3, Ed. C, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Rabinovici, E. [Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,91904 Jerusalem (Israel); Tallarita, G. [Departamento de Ciencias, Facultad de Artes Liberales,Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago 7941169 (Chile)

2016-04-28

We consider string pair production in non homogeneous electric backgrounds. We study several particular configurations which can be addressed with the Euclidean world-sheet instanton technique, the analogue of the world-line instanton for particles. In the first case the string is suspended between two D-branes in flat space-time, in the second case the string lives in AdS and terminates on one D-brane (this realizes the holographic Schwinger effect). In some regions of parameter space the result is well approximated by the known analytical formulas, either the particle pair production in non-homogeneous background or the string pair production in homogeneous background. In other cases we see effects which are intrinsically stringy and related to the non-homogeneity of the background. The pair production is enhanced already for particles in time dependent electric field backgrounds. The string nature enhances this even further. For spacial varying electrical background fields the string pair production is less suppressed than the rate of particle pair production. We discuss in some detail how the critical field is affected by the non-homogeneity, for both time and space dependent electric field backgrouds. We also comment on what could be an interesting new prediction for the small field limit. The third case we consider is pair production in holographic confining backgrounds with homogeneous and non-homogeneous fields.

String pair production in non homogeneous backgrounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolognesi, S.; Rabinovici, E.; Tallarita, G.

2016-01-01

We consider string pair production in non homogeneous electric backgrounds. We study several particular configurations which can be addressed with the Euclidean world-sheet instanton technique, the analogue of the world-line instanton for particles. In the first case the string is suspended between two D-branes in flat space-time, in the second case the string lives in AdS and terminates on one D-brane (this realizes the holographic Schwinger effect). In some regions of parameter space the result is well approximated by the known analytical formulas, either the particle pair production in non-homogeneous background or the string pair production in homogeneous background. In other cases we see effects which are intrinsically stringy and related to the non-homogeneity of the background. The pair production is enhanced already for particles in time dependent electric field backgrounds. The string nature enhances this even further. For spacial varying electrical background fields the string pair production is less suppressed than the rate of particle pair production. We discuss in some detail how the critical field is affected by the non-homogeneity, for both time and space dependent electric field backgrouds. We also comment on what could be an interesting new prediction for the small field limit. The third case we consider is pair production in holographic confining backgrounds with homogeneous and non-homogeneous fields.

String theory in four dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dine, M.

1988-01-01

A representative sample of current ideas about how one might develop a string phenomenology is presented. Some of the obstacles which lie in between string theory and contact with experiment are described. It is hoped that this volume will provide the reader with ways of thinking about string theory in four dimensions and provide tools for asking questions about string theory and ordinary physics. 102 refs

Open branes in space-time non-commutative little string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmark, T.

2001-01-01

We conjecture the existence of two new non-gravitational six-dimensional string theories, defined as the decoupling limit of NS5-branes in the background of near-critical electrical two- and three-form RR fields. These theories are space-time non-commutative Little String Theories with open branes. The theory with (2,0) supersymmetry has an open membrane in the spectrum and reduces to OM theory at low energies. The theory with (1,1) supersymmetry has an open string in the spectrum and reduces to (5+1)-dimensional NCOS theory for weak NCOS coupling and low energies. The theories are shown to be T-dual with the open membrane being T-dual to the open string. The theories therefore provide a connection between (5+1)-dimensional NCOS theory and OM theory. We study the supergravity duals of these theories and we consider a chain of dualities that shows how the T-duality between the two theories is connected with the S-duality between (4+1)-dimensional NCOS theory and OM theory

Functional integral approach to string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakita, B.

1987-01-01

Fermionic string theory can be made supersymmetric: the superstring. It contains among others mass zero gauge fields of spin 1 and 2. The recent revival of interests in string field theories is due to the recognition of the compactified superstring theory as a viable theory of grandunification of all interactions, especially after Green and Schwarz's discovery of the gauge and gravitational anomaly cancellation in 0(32) superstring theory. New developments include string phenomenology, general discussions of compactification, new models, especially the heterotic string. These are either applications or extensions of string field theories. Although these are very exciting developments, the author limits his attention to the basics of the bosonic string theory

Matrix String Theory

CERN Document Server

Dijkgraaf, R; Verlinde, Herman L

1997-01-01

Via compactification on a circle, the matrix model of M-theory proposed by Banks et al suggests a concrete identification between the large N limit of two-dimensional N=8 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and type IIA string theory. In this paper we collect evidence that supports this identification. We explicitly identify the perturbative string states and their interactions, and describe the appearance of D-particle and D-membrane states.

QCD and string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen-Tannoudji, G.

1990-01-01

This paper is devoted to a review of the connections between quantumchromodynamics (QCD) and string theories. One reviews the phenomenological models leading to string pictures in non perturbative QCD and the string effects, related to soft gluon coherence, which arise in perturbative QCD. One tries to build a string theory which goes to QCD at the zero slope limit. A specific model, based on superstring theories is shown to agree with QCD four point amplitudes at the Born approximation and with one loop corrections. One shows how this approach can provide a theoretical framework to account for the phenomenological property of parton-hadron duality

Non-critical Poincare invariant bosonic string backgrounds and closed string tachyons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez, Enrique; Gomez, Cesar; Hernandez, Lorenzo

2001-01-01

A new family of non critical bosonic string backgrounds in arbitrary space-time dimension D and with ISO(1,D-2) Poincare invariance are presented. The metric warping factor and dilaton agree asymptotically with the linear dilaton background. The closed string tachyon equation of motion enjoys, in the linear approximation, an exact solution of 'kink' type interpolating between different expectation values. A renormalization group flow interpretation, based on a closed string tachyon potential of type -T 2 e -T , is suggested

Spinning and rotating strings for N=1 SYM theory and brane constructions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schvellinger, Martin

2004-01-01

We obtain spinning and rotating closed string solutions in AdS 5 x T 1,1 background, and show how these solutions can be mapped onto rotating closed strings embedded in configurations of intersecting branes in type IIA string theory. Then, we discuss spinning closed string solutions in the UV limit of the Klebanov-Tseytlin background, and also properties of classical solutions in the related intersecting brane constructions in the UV limit. We comment on extensions of this analysis to the deformed conifold background, and in the corresponding intersecting brane construction, as well as its relation to the deep IR limit of the Klebanov-Strassler solution. We briefly discuss on the relation between type IIA brane constructions and their related M-theory descriptions, and how solitonic solutions are related in both descriptions. (author)

Developing the covariant Batalin-Vilkovisky approach to string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hata, H.; Zwiebach, B.

1994-01-01

In this work the authors investigate the variation of the string field action under changes of the string field vertices giving rise to different decompositions of the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. The authors establish that any such change in the string action arises from a field transformation canonical with respect to the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) antibracket and find the explicit form of the generator of the infinitesimal transformations. Two theories using different decompositions of moduli space are shown to yield the same gauge-fixed action upon use of different gauge-fixing conditions. The authors also elaborate on recent work on the covariant BV formalism, and emphasize the necessity of a measure in the space of two-dimensional field theories in order to extend a recent analysis of background independence to quantum string field theory. 22 refs., 2 figs

Testing string theory at LHC?

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2002-01-01

A theory with such mathematical beauty cannot be wrong: this is one of the main arguments in favour of string theory, which unifies all known physical theories of fundamental interactions in a single coherent description of the universe. But no one has ever observed strings, not even indirectly, nor the space of extra dimensions where they live. However there are good reasons to believe that the 'hidden' dimensions of string theory may be much larger than what we thought in the past and that they may be within experimental reach in the near future - together with the strings themselves. In my talk, I will give an elementary introduction of string theory and describe the main experimental predictions.Organiser(s): Jasper Kirkby / EP DivisionNote: Tea & coffee will be served at 16.00 hrs.

String theory: A brand new theory that claims to explain everything in existence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pal, P.B.

1988-01-01

Background of the origin of the string theories which have shown possibilities of unifying all four basic forces including gravity is described and the concepts behind these theories are explained for the layman. (M.G.R.)

String theory in four dimensions

CERN Document Server

1988-01-01

``String Theory in Four Dimensions'' contains a representative collection of papers dealing with various aspects of string phenomenology, including compactifications on smooth manifolds and more general conformal field theories. Together with the lucid introduction by M. Dine, this material gives the reader a good working knowledge of our present ideas for connecting string theory to nature.

Is the string theory doomed?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Meur, H.; Daninos, F.; Bachas, C.

2007-01-01

Since its beginning, in the sixties, the string theory has succeeded in overcoming a lot of theoretical difficulties but now the complete absence of experimental validation entertains doubts about its ability to represent the real world and questions its hegemony in today's theoretical physics. Other space-time theories like the twistors, or the non-commutative geometry, or the loop quantum gravity, or the causal dynamics triangulation might begin receiving more attention. Despite all that, the string theory can be given credit for 4 achievements. First, the string theory has provided a consistent quantum description of gravity. Secondly, the string theory has built a theoretical frame that has allowed the unification of the 4 basic interactions. Thirdly, the string theory applied to astrophysics issues has demonstrated that the evaporation of a black hole does not necessarily lead to a loss of information which comforts the universality of the conservation of the quantity of information in any system and as a consequence put a fatal blow to the so-called paradox observed in black holes. Fourthly, the string theory has given a new and original meaning on the true nature of space-time. (A.C.)

A primer on string theory

CERN Document Server

Schomerus, Volker

2017-01-01

Since its conception in the 1960s, string theory has been hailed as one of the most promising routes we have to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity. This book provides a concise introduction to string theory explaining central concepts, mathematical tools and covering recent developments in physics including compactifications and gauge/string dualities. With string theory being a multidisciplinary field interfacing with high energy physics, mathematics and quantum field theory, this book is ideal for both students with no previous knowledge of the field and scholars from other disciplines who are looking for an introduction to basic concepts.

Aspects of some dualities in string theory

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bom Soo

AdS/CFT correspondence in string theory has changed landscape of the theoretical physics. Through this celebrated duality between gravity theory and field theory, one can investigate analytically strongly coupled gauge theories such as Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) in terms of weakly coupled string theory such as supergravity theory and vice versa. In the first part of this thesis we used this duality to construct a new type of nonlocal field theory, called Puff Field Theory, in terms of D3 branes in type IIB string theory with a geometric twist. In addition to the strong-weak duality of AdS/CFT, there also exists a weak-weak duality, called Twistor String Theory. Twistor technique is successfully used to calculate the SYM scattering amplitude in an elegant fashion. Yet, the progress in the string theory side was hindered by a non-unitary conformal gravity. We extend the Twistor string theory by introducing mass terms, in the second part of the thesis. A chiral mass term is identified as a vacuum expectation value of a conformal supergravity field and is tied with the breaking of the conformal symmetry of gravity. As a prime candidate for a quantum theory of gravity, string theory revealed many promising successes such as counting the number of microstates in supersymmetric Black Holes thermodynamics and resolution of timelike and null singularities, to name a few. Yet, the fundamental string and M-theroy formulations are not yet available. Various string theories without gravity, such as Non-Commutative Open String (NCOS) and Open Membrane (OM) theories, are very nice playground to investigate the fundamental structure of string and M-theory without the complication of gravity. In the last part of the thesis, simpler Non-Relativistic String Theories are constructed and investigated. One important motivation for those theories is related to the connection between Non-Relativistic String Theories and Non-critical String Theories through the bosonization of betagamma

Purely cubic action for string field theory

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz, G. T.; Lykken, J.; Rohm, R.; Strominger, A.

1986-01-01

It is shown that Witten's (1986) open-bosonic-string field-theory action and a closed-string analog can be written as a purely cubic interaction term. The conventional form of the action arises by expansion around particular solutions of the classical equations of motion. The explicit background dependence of the conventional action via the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin operator is eliminated in the cubic formulation. A closed-form expression is found for the full nonlinear gauge-transformation law.

Progress in string theory research

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

At the first look, the String Theory seems just an interesting and non-trivial application of the quantum mechanics and the special relativity to vibrating strings. By itself, the quantization of relativistic strings does not call the attention of the particle physicist as a significant paradigm shift. However, when the string quantization is performed by applying the standard rules of the perturbative Quantum Field Theory, one discovers that the strings in certain states have the same physical properties as the gravity in the flat space-time. Chapter one of this book reviews the construction of the thermal bosonic string and D-brane in the framework of the Thermo Field Dynamics (TFD). It briefly recalls the wellknown light-cone quantization of the bosonic string in the conformal gauge in flat space-time, and gives a bird’s eye view of the fundamental concepts of the TFD. Chapter two examines a visual model inspired by string theory, on the system of interacting anyons. Chapter three investigate the late-ti...

String theory compactifications

CERN Document Server

Graña, Mariana

2017-01-01

The lectures in this book provide graduate students and non-specialist researchers with a concise introduction to the concepts and formalism required to reduce the ten-dimensional string theories to the observable four-dimensional space-time - a procedure called string compactification. The text starts with a very brief introduction to string theory, first working out its massless spectrum and showing how the condition on the number of dimensions arises. It then dwells on the different possible internal manifolds, from the simplest to the most relevant phenomenologically, thereby showing that the most elegant description is through an extension of ordinary Riemannian geometry termed generalized geometry, which was first introduced by Hitchin. Last but not least, the authors review open problems in string phenomenology, such as the embedding of the Standard Model and obtaining de Sitter solutions.

Introduction to string theory

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva. Audiovisual Unit

2002-01-01

I will present a simple and non-technical overview of string theory, aimed for non-experts who like to get some idea what string theory is about. Besides introductory material, I intend to cover also some of the more recent developments.

String theory as a Lilliputian world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambjørn, J.; Makeenko, Y.

2016-01-01

Lattice regularizations of the bosonic string do not allow us to probe the tachyon. This has often been viewed as the reason why these theories have never managed to make any contact to standard continuum string theories when the dimension of spacetime is larger than two. We study the continuum string theory in large spacetime dimensions where simple mean field theory is reliable. By keeping carefully the cutoff we show that precisely the existence of a tachyon makes it possible to take a scaling limit which reproduces the lattice-string results. We compare this scaling limit with another scaling limit which reproduces standard continuum-string results. If the people working with lattice regularizations of string theories are akin to Gulliver they will view the standard string-world as a Lilliputian world no larger than a few lattice spacings.

String theory as a Lilliputian world

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ambjørn, J., E-mail: ambjorn@nbi.dk [The Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); IMAPP, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Makeenko, Y., E-mail: makeenko@nbi.dk [The Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, B. Cheremushkinskaya 25, 117218 Moscow (Russian Federation)

2016-05-10

Lattice regularizations of the bosonic string do not allow us to probe the tachyon. This has often been viewed as the reason why these theories have never managed to make any contact to standard continuum string theories when the dimension of spacetime is larger than two. We study the continuum string theory in large spacetime dimensions where simple mean field theory is reliable. By keeping carefully the cutoff we show that precisely the existence of a tachyon makes it possible to take a scaling limit which reproduces the lattice-string results. We compare this scaling limit with another scaling limit which reproduces standard continuum-string results. If the people working with lattice regularizations of string theories are akin to Gulliver they will view the standard string-world as a Lilliputian world no larger than a few lattice spacings.

Rotating and orbiting strings in Dp-brane background

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biswas, Sagar; Panigrahi, Kamal L. [Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,721302, Kharagpur (India)

2015-03-04

We probe the open fundamental strings in Dp-brane (p=1, 3, 5) backgrounds and find new classes of rotating and orbiting string solutions. We show that for various worldsheet embedding ansatz we get solutions of the string equations of motion that correspond to the well known giant magnon and single spikes, in addition to few new solutions corresponding to the orbiting strings. We make a systematic study of both rigidly rotating and orbiting strings in D1, D3 and D5-brane backgrounds.

Introduction to field theory of strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikkawa, K.

1987-01-01

The field theory of bosonic string is reviewed. First, theory is treated in a light-cone gauge. After a brief survey of the first quantized theory of free string, the second quantization is discussed. All possible interactions of strings are introduced based on a smoothness condition of work sheets swept out by strings. Perturbation theory is developed. Finally a possible way to the manifest covariant formalism is discussed

A Note on Tensionless Strings in M-Theory

OpenAIRE

Davis, K.

1996-01-01

In this article we examine the appearance of tensionless strings in M-Theory. We subsequently interpret these tensionless strings in a String Theory context. In particular, we examine tensionless strings appearing in M-Theory on $S^{1}$, M-Theory on $S^{1} / {\\bf Z}_{2}$, and M-Theory on $T^{2}$; we then interpret the appearance of such strings in a String Theory context. Then we reverse this process and examine the appearance of some tensionless strings in String Theory. Subsequently we inte...

String theory and quantum gravity '92

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvey, J.; Iengo, R.; Narain, K.S.; Randjbar Daemi, S.; Verlinde, H.

1993-01-01

These proceedings of the 1992 Trieste Spring School and Workshop on String Theory and Quantum Gravity contains introductions and overviews of recent work on the use of two-dimensional string inspired models in the study of black holes, a lecture on gravitational scattering at planckian energies, another on the physical properties of higher-dimensional black holes and black strings in string theory, a discussion on N=2 superconformal field theories, a lecture about the application of matrix model techniques to the study of string theory in two dimensions, and an overview of the current status and developments in string field theory. Connections with models in statistical mechanics are also discussed. These proceedings contain seven lectures and ten contributions. Refs and figs

Charting the Landscape of Supercritical String Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellerman, Simeon; Swanson, Ian

2007-01-01

Special solutions of string theory in supercritical dimensions can interpolate in time between theories with different numbers of spacetime dimensions and different amounts of world sheet supersymmetry. These solutions connect supercritical string theories to the more familiar string duality web in ten dimensions and provide a precise link between supersymmetric and purely bosonic string theories. Dimension quenching and c duality appear to be natural concepts in string theory, giving rise to large networks of interconnected theories

Hosotani model in closed string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiraishi, Kiyoshi.

1988-11-01

Hosotani mechanism in the closed string theory with current algebra symmetry is described by the (old covariant) operator method. We compare the gauge symmetry breaking mechanism in a string theory which has SU(2) symmetry with the one in an equivalent compactified closed string theory. We also investigate the difference between Hosotani mechanism and Higgs mechanism in closed string theories by calculation of a fourpoint amplitude of 'Higgs' bosons at tree level. (author)

Cosmological horizons, quintessence and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaloper, Nemanja

2003-01-01

String theory is presently the best candidate for a quantum theory of gravity unified with other forces. It is natural to hope that applications of string theory to cosmology may shed new light on the cosmological conundra, such as singularities, initial conditions, cosmological constant problem and the origin of inflation. Before we can apply string theory to cosmology, there are important conceptual and practical problems which must be addressed. We have reviewed here some of these problems, related to how one defines string theory in a cosmological setting. (author)

Spin chains and string theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruczenski, Martin

2004-10-15

Recently, an important test of the anti de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence has been done using rotating strings with two angular momenta. We show that such a test can be described more generally as the agreement between two actions: one a low energy description of a spin chain appearing in the field theory side, and the other a limit of the string action in AdS5xS5. This gives a map between the mean value of the spin in the boundary theory and the position of the string in the bulk, and shows how a string action can emerge from a gauge theory in the large-N limit.

Thermodynamics of 2D string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexandrov, Sergei Yu.; V.A. Fock Department of Theoretical Physics, St. Petersburg University

2003-01-01

We calculate the free energy, energy and entropy in the matrix quantum mechanical formulation of 2D string theory in a background strongly perturbed by tachyons with the imaginary minkowskian momentum ±i/R ('Sine-Liouville' theory). The system shows a thermodynamical behaviour corresponding to the temperature T={1/(2π R)}. We show that the microscopically calculated energy of the system satisfies the usual thermodynamical relations and leads to a non-zero entropy. (author)

Three spin string configuration in γ-Deformed AdS5xS5 background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobev, N.; Rashkov, R.; Dimov, H.

2006-01-01

The aim of this paper is to investigate semiclassical rotating string configurations in the recently found Lunin-Maldacena background. This background is conjectured to be dual to the Leigh-Strassler β-deformation of N = 4 SYM and therefore a good laboratory for tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence beyond the well explored AdS 5 xS 5 case. We consider different multispin configurations of rotating strings by allowing the strings to move in both the AdS 5 and the deformed S 5 part of the Lunin-Maldacena background. For all of these configurations we compute the string energy in terms of the angular momenta and the string winding numbers and thus provide the possibility of reproducing our results from a computation of the anomalous dimension of the corresponding dilatation operator. This can be achieved by means of the Bethe ansatz techniques for the relevant sectors of the corresponding Yang-Mills theory. We also compare our results to those for multispin rotating strings on AdS 5 xS 5 . (authors)

Antisymmetric tensor Zp gauge symmetries in field theory and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berasaluce-González, Mikel; Ramírez, Guillermo; Uranga, Angel M.

2014-01-01

We consider discrete gauge symmetries in D dimensions arising as remnants of broken continuous gauge symmetries carried by general antisymmetric tensor fields, rather than by standard 1-forms. The lagrangian for such a general Z p gauge theory can be described in terms of a r-form gauge field made massive by a (r−1)-form, or other dual realizations, that we also discuss. The theory contains charged topological defects of different dimensionalities, generalizing the familiar charged particles and strings in D=4. We describe realizations in string theory compactifications with torsion cycles, or with background field strength fluxes. We also provide examples of non-abelian discrete groups, for which the group elements are associated with charged objects of different dimensionality

Gauge theories as string theories: the first results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorsky, Aleksandr S

2005-01-01

The gauge/string theory duality in curved space is discussed mainly using a non-Abelian conformal N = 4 supersymmetric gauge theory and the theory of a closed superstring in the AdS 5 x S 5 metric as an example. It is shown that in the supergravity approximation, string duality yields the characteristics of a strong-coupling gauge theory. For a special shape of the contour, a Wilson loop expression is derived in the classical superstring approximation. The role of the hidden integrability in lower-loop calculations in gauge theory and in different approximations of string theory is discussed. It is demonstrated that in the large quantum-number limit, gauge theory operators can be described in terms of the dual string picture. Examples of metrics providing the dual description of gauge theories with broken conformal symmetry are presented, and formulations of the vacuum structure of such theories in terms of gravity are discussed. (reviews of topical problems)

Basic concepts of string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumenhagen, Ralph

2013-01-01

The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for research in string theory. It is intended as a textbook in the sense that, starting from the basics, the material is presented in a pedagogical and self-contained fashion. The emphasis is on the world-sheet perspective of closed strings and of open strings ending on D-branes, where two-dimensional conformal field theory is the main tool. Compactifications of string theory, with and without fluxes, and string dualities are also discussed from the space-time point of view, i.e. in geometric language. End-of-chapter references have been added to guide the reader intending to pursue further studies or to start research in the topics covered by this book.

Semiclassical spinning strings and confining gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigazzi, F.; Cotrone, A.L.; Martucci, L.

2004-03-01

We study multi-charged rotating string states on Type II B regular backgrounds dual to confining SU(N) gauge theories with (softly broken) N=1 supersymmetry, in the infra red regime. After exhibiting the classical energy/charge relations for the folded and circular two-charge strings, we compute in the latter case the one loop sigma-model quantum correction. The classical relation has an expansion in positive powers of the analogous of the BMN effective coupling, while the quantum corrections are non perturbative in nature and are not subleading in the limit of infinite charge. We comment about the dual field theory multi-charged hadrons and the implications of our computation for the AdS/N=4 duality. (author)

Sequestering in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kachru, Shamit; McAllister, Liam; Sundrum, Raman

2007-01-01

We study sequestering, a prerequisite for flavor-blind supersymmetry breaking in several high-scale mediation mechanisms, in compactifications of type IIB string theory. We find that although sequestering is typically absent in unwarped backgrounds, strongly warped compactifications do readily sequester. The AdS/CFT dual description in terms of conformal sequestering plays an important role in our analysis, and we establish how sequestering works both on the gravity side and on the gauge theory side. We pay special attention to subtle compactification effects that can disrupt sequestering. Our result is a step toward realizing an appealing pattern of soft terms in a KKLT compactification

2-Dim. gravity and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narain, K.S.

1991-01-01

The role of 2-dim. gravity in string theory is discussed. In particular d=25 string theory coupled to 2-d. gravity is described and shown to give rise to the physics of the usual 26-dim. string theory (where one does not quantise 2-d. gravity. (orig.)

The status and future prospects of string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, D.J.

1990-01-01

After a general introduction to the description of the fundamental forces by gauge theories and the difficulties occurring in the attemps of unifying these theories with gravity the reasons for the introduction of string theory are explained. After a description of the construction of a string theory the string theory of gravity is considered. Then the problems of string theory are described. Thereafter elastic scattering in string theory at energies comparable with the Planck mass is considered. Finally some prospects for string theory are discussed. (HSI)

UV / IR mixing in noncommutative field theory via open string loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiem, Youngjai; Lee, Sangmin

2000-01-01

We explicitly evaluate one-loop (annulus) planar and nonplanar open string amplitudes in the presence of the background NS-NS two-form field. In the decoupling limit of Seiberg and Witten, we find that the nonplanar string amplitudes reproduce the UV/IR mixing of noncommutative field theories. In particular, the investigation of the UV regime of the open string amplitudes shows that certain IR closed string degrees of freedom survive the decoupling limit as previously predicted from the noncommutative field theory analysis. These degrees of freedom are responsible for the quadratic, linear and logarithmic IR singularities when the D-branes embedded in space-time have the codimension zero, one and two, respectively. The analysis is given for both bosonic and supersymmetric open strings

Basic Concepts of String Theory

CERN Document Server

Blumenhagen, Ralph; Theisen, Stefan

2013-01-01

The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for research in string theory. It is intended as a textbook in the sense that, starting from the basics, the material is presented in a pedagogical and self-contained fashion. The emphasis is on the world-sheet perspective of closed strings and of open strings ending on D-branes, where two-dimensional conformal field theory is the main tool. Compactifications of string theory, with and without fluxes, and string dualities are also discussed from the space-time point of view, i.e. in geometric language. End-of-chapter references have been added to guide the reader intending to pursue further studies or to start research in the topics covered by this book.

Heterotic string in an arbitrary background field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.

1985-01-01

An expression for the light-cone gauge action for the first-quantized heterotic string in the presence of arbitrary background gauge, gravitational, and antisymmetric tensor fields is derived. The result is a two-dimensional local field theory with N = 1/2 supersymmetry. The constraints imposed on the background fields in order to make this theory one-loop finite are derived. These constraints are identical to the equations of motion for the massless fields at the linearized level. Finally, it is shown that if there is no background antisymmetric tensor field, and if the gauge connection is set equal to the spin connection, the effective action is that of an N = 1 supersymmetric nonlinear and N = 2 supersymmetric Georgi-Glashow models the occurrence of the fermion fractionization is the necessity; the ignorance of it results in the inconsistency in the perturbative calculation of the mass splittings among the members of the supermultiplets. The notable feature of our result is that the degeneracy due to the Jackiw-Rebbi zero mode is not independent of the one required by the supersymmetry, suggesting a nontrivial structure in embedding the topology of Higgs fields into supersymmetric gauge theories

From fractals to wormholes via string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Felce, A.G.

1992-01-01

The thesis is in two parts. The first part is devoted to a study of the definition of mass for soliton solutions in string theory. In the context of the low-energy effective field theory, there are three distinct quantities from which one can extract the mass of a soliton: the ADM mass, the static action and the kinetic energy. The three corresponding masses are carefully defined and shown to be equal for a representative class of string solitons, the so-called 'black fivebranes'. Along the way a potential confusion in the definition of the action is cleared up, and it is shown that the kinetic energy of a moving soliton is given in terms of a surface integral at spacelike infinity. This result for the kinetic energy is used to motivate a conjecture about the exact value of soliton masses in string theory: That in conformal field theory the kinetic mass is realized as the norm of the (1,1) deformation induced by the collective coordinate. Such deformations are usually treated as unphysical because they appear to be pure gauge and have zero norm. In a soliton conformal field theory, a finite number of these gauge transformations become physical because of a subtlety involving the boundary at spatial infinity. Some proposals for concrete exploration of this phenomenon are discussed. The second part of the thesis concerns the connection between string theory and an important problem in condensed matter physics. It has recently been shown that the dissipative Hofstadter model (dissipative quantum mechanics of an electron subject to uniform magnetic field and periodic potential in two dimensions) exhibit critical behavior on a network of lines in the dissipation/magnetic field plane. Apart from their obvious condensed matter interest, the corresponding critical theories represent non-trivial solutions of open string field theory containing a tachyon and gauge field background. A detailed account of their properties would be interesting from several points of view

Remarks on entanglement entropy in string theory

Science.gov (United States)

Balasubramanian, Vijay; Parrikar, Onkar

2018-03-01

Entanglement entropy for spatial subregions is difficult to define in string theory because of the extended nature of strings. Here we propose a definition for bosonic open strings using the framework of string field theory. The key difference (compared to ordinary quantum field theory) is that the subregion is chosen inside a Cauchy surface in the "space of open string configurations." We first present a simple calculation of this entanglement entropy in free light-cone string field theory, ignoring subtleties related to the factorization of the Hilbert space. We reproduce the answer expected from an effective field theory point of view, namely a sum over the one-loop entanglement entropies corresponding to all the particle-excitations of the string, and further show that the full string theory regulates ultraviolet divergences in the entanglement entropy. We then revisit the question of factorization of the Hilbert space by analyzing the covariant phase-space associated with a subregion in Witten's covariant string field theory. We show that the pure gauge (i.e., BRST exact) modes in the string field become dynamical at the entanglement cut. Thus, a proper definition of the entropy must involve an extended Hilbert space, with new stringy edge modes localized at the entanglement cut.

The sewing technique for strings and conformal field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Vecchia, P.

1989-01-01

We discuss recent results obtained from the sewing procedure for strings and conformal field theories. They are summarized by the N Point [String] g loop Vertex V N;g , that is the 'generating functional' of all correlation functions [scattering amplitudes] of the theory on a genus g Riemann surface. We discuss V N;g for free bosonic theory with arbitrary background charge and for fermionic and bosonic bc systems. By saturating those vertices with highest weight states we obtain in a simple way the correlation functions of the corresponding primary fields on genus g Riemann surfaces that reproduce known results including the correlation functions of a bosonic bc system, that present a number of peculiarities. We construct also V N;g for the bosonic and fermionic string. In particular this technique allows one to explicitly construct the measure of integration over the moduli and to study the various pinching limits in order to check the finiteness of superstring theories. (orig.)

Exact marginality in open string field theory. A general framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiermaier, M.

2007-07-01

We construct analytic solutions of open bosonic string field theory for any exactly marginal deformation in any boundary conformal field theory when properly renormalized operator products of the marginal operator are given. We explicitly provide such renormalized operator products for a class of marginal deformations which include the deformations of flat D-branes in flat backgrounds by constant massless modes of the gauge field and of the scalar fields on the D-branes, the cosine potential for a space-like coordinate, and the hyperbolic cosine potential for the time-like coordinate. In our construction we use integrated vertex operators, which are closely related to finite deformations in boundary conformal field theory, while previous analytic solutions were based on unintegrated vertex operators. We also introduce a modified star product to formulate string field theory around the deformed background. (orig.)

String-coupling constant and dilaton vacuum expectation value in string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoneya, Tamiaki

1987-01-01

In the first quantized approaches to strings, it is well known that the string-coupling constant is determined by the vacuum expectation value of the dilaton field. This property, however, has never been demonstrated within the framework of string field theory. An explicit reparametrization of the string field associated with the shifts of the dilaton vacuum expectation value and the string-coupling constant is constructed exhibiting the above property in the light-cone field theory of the closed bosonic string. (orig.)

Conformal tension in string theories and M-theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barros, Manuel; Ferrandez, Angel; Lucas, Pascual

2000-01-01

This paper deals with string theories and M-theories on backgrounds of the form AdSxM,M being a compact principal U(1)-bundle. These configurations are the natural settings to study Hopf T-dualities (Duff et al., Nucl. Phys. B 544 (1999) 145), and so to define duality chains connecting different string theories and M-theories. There is an increasing great interest in studying those properties (physical or geometrical) which are preserved along the duality chains. For example, it is known that Hopf T-dualities preserve the black hole entropies (Duff et al., Nucl. Phys. B 544 (1999) 145). In this paper we consider a two-parameter family of actions which constitutes a natural variation of the conformal total tension action (also known as Willmore-Chen functional in differential geometry). Then, we show that the existence of wide families of solutions (in particular compact solutions) for the corresponding motion equations is preserved along those duality chains. In particular, we exhibit ample classes of Willmore-Chen submanifolds with a reasonable degree of symmetry in a wide variety of conformal string theories and conformal M-theories, that in addition are solutions of a second variational problem known as the area-volume isoperimetric problem. These are good reasons to refer those submanifolds as the best worlds one can find in a conformal universe. The method we use to obtain this invariant under Hopf T-dualities is based on the principle of symmetric criticality. However, it is used in a two-fold sense. First to break symmetry and so to reduce variables. Second to gain rigidity in direct approaches to integrate the Euler-Lagrange equations. The existence of generalized elastic curves is also important in the explicit exhibition of those configurations. The relationship between solutions and elasticae can be regarded as a holographic property

Electric magnetic duality in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.

1992-07-01

The electric-magnetic duality transformation in four dimensional heterotic string theory discussed by Shapere, Trivedi and Wilczek is shown to be an exact symmetry of the equations of motion of low energy effective field theory even after including the scalar and the vector fields, arising due to compactification, in the effective field theory. Using this duality transformation we construct rotating black hole solutions in the effective field theory carrying both electric and magnetic charges. The spectrum of extremal magnetically charged black holes turn out to be similar to that of electrically charged elementary string excitations lying on the leading Regge trajectory. We also discuss the possibility that the duality symmetry is an exact symmetry of the full string theory under which electrically charged elementary string excitations get exchanged with magnetically charged soliton like solutions. This proposal might be made concrete following the suggestion of Dabholkar et. al. that fundamental strings may be regarded as soliton like classical solutions in the effective field theory. (author). 20 refs

Unified string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, D.J.

1985-01-01

String theories offer a way of realizing the potential of supersymmetry, Kaluza-Klein and much more. They represent a radical departure from ordinary quantum field theory, but in the direction of increased symmetry and structure. They are based on an enormous increase in the number of degrees of freedom, since in addition to fermionic coordinates and extra dimensions, the basic entities are extended one dimensional objects instead of points. Correspondingly the symmetry group is greatly enlarged, in a way that we are only beginning to comprehend. At the very least this extended symmetry contains the largest group of symmetries that can be contemplated within the framework of point field theories-those of ten-dimensional supergravity and super Yang-Mills theory. Types of string theories and the phenomenology to be expected from them are reviewed

String theory compactifications with fluxes, and generalized geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassani, D.

2009-06-01

The topic of this thesis is compactifications in string theory and supergravity. We study dimensional reductions of type II theories on backgrounds with fluxes, using the techniques of Hitchin's generalized geometry. We start with an introduction of the needed mathematical tools, focusing on SU(3)xSU(3) structures on the generalized tangent bundle T+T * , and analyzing their deformations. Next we study the four dimensional N equals 2 gauged supergravity which can be defined reducing type II theories on SU(3)*SU(3) structure backgrounds with general NSNS and RR fluxes: we establish the complete bosonic action, and we show how its data are related to the generalized geometry formalism on T+T * . In particular, we derive a geometric expression for the full N = 2 scalar potential. Then we focus on the relations between the 10d and 4d descriptions of supersymmetric flux backgrounds: we spell out the N = 1 vacuum conditions within the 4d N = 2 theory, as well as from its N = 1 truncation, and we establish a precise matching with the equations characterizing the N = 1 backgrounds at the ten dimensional level. We conclude by presenting some concrete examples, based on coset spaces with SU(3) structure. We establish for these spaces the consistency of the truncation based on left-invariance, and we explore the landscape of vacua of the corresponding theory, taking string loop corrections into account. (author)

Differential formulation in string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzzo, M.M.

1987-01-01

The equations of gauge invariance motion for theories of boson open strings and Neveu-Schwarz and Ramond superstring are derived. A construction for string theories using differential formalism, is introduced. The importance of BRST charge for constructing such theories and the necessity of introduction of auxiliary fields are verified. (M.C.K.) [pt

Global symmetries of open strings in an electromagnetic background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrer, E.J.; de la Incera, V.

1994-01-01

The global symmetries of open bosonic strings in an electromagnetic background are investigated. The Poincare subalgebra and the mass of the open charged string are derived. These results are useful for computing the background electric field dependence of the one-loop free energy and Hagedorn temperature of a neutral string gas

Rotating strings in confining AdS/CFT backgrounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armoni, Adi; Barbon, Jose L.F.; Petkou, Anastasios C.

2002-01-01

We study semiclassical rotating strings in AdS/CFT backgrounds that exhibit both confinement and finite-size effects. The energy versus spin dispersion relation for short strings is the expected Regge trajectory behaviour, with the same string tension as is measured by the Wilson loop. Long strings probe the interplay between confinement and finite-size effects. In particular, the dispersion relation for long strings shows a characteristic dependence on the string tension and the finite-size scale. (author)

One-loop masses of open-string scalar fields in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitazawa, Noriaki

2008-01-01

In phenomenological models with D-branes, there are in general open-string massless scalar fields, in addition to closed-string massless moduli fields corresponding to the compactification. It is interesting to focus on the fate of such scalar fields in models with broken supersymmetry, because no symmetry forbids their masses. The one-loop effect may give non-zero masses to them, and in some cases mass squared may become negative, which means the radiative gauge symmetry breaking. In this article we investigate and propose a simple method for calculating the one-loop corrections using the boundary state formalism. There are two categories of massless open-string scalar fields. One consists the gauge potential fields corresponding to compactified directions, which can be understood as scalar fields in uncompactified space-time (related with Wilson line degrees of freedom). The other consists 'gauge potential fields' corresponding to transverse directions of D-brane, which emerge as scalar fields in D-brane world-volume (related with brane moduli fields). The D-brane boundary states with constant backgrounds of these scalar fields are constructed, and one-loop scalar masses are calculated in the closed string picture. Explicit calculations are given in the following four concrete models: one D25-brane with a circle compactification in bosonic string theory, one D9-brane with a circle compactification in superstring theory, D3-branes at a supersymmetric C 3 /Z 3 orbifold singularity, and a model of brane supersymmetry breaking with D3-branes and anti-D7-branes at a supersymmetric C 3 /Z 3 orbifold singularity. We show that the sign of the mass squared has a strong correlation with the sign of the related open-string one-loop vacuum amplitude.

International conference on string theory

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

The Strings 2017 conference is part of the "Strings" series of annual conferences, that bring the entire string theory community together. It will include reviews of major developments in the field, and specialized talks on specific topics. There will also be several public lectures given by conference participants, a pre-Strings school at the Technion, and a post-Strings workshop at the Weizmann Institute.

String duality and novel theories without gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kachru, Shamit

1998-01-01

We describe some of the novel 6d quantum field theories which have been discovered in studies of string duality. The role these theories (and their 4d descendants) may play in alleviating the vacuum degeneracy problem in string theory is reviewed. The DLCQ of these field theories is presented as one concrete way of formulating them, independent of string theory

String Theory in a Nutshell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skenderis, Kostas

2007-01-01

The book 'String Theory in a Nutshell' by Elias Kiritsis provides a comprehensive introduction to modern string theory. String theory is the leading candidate for a theory that successfully unifies all fundamental forces of nature, including gravity. The subject has been continuously developing since the early 1970s, with classic textbooks on the subject being those of Green, Schwarz and Witten (1987) and Polchinski (1998). Since the latter was published there have been substantial developments, in particular in understanding black holes and gravity/gauge theory dualities. A textbook treatment of this important material is clearly needed, both by students and researchers in string theory and by mathematicians and physicists working in related fields. This book has a good selection of material, starting from basics and moving into classic and modern topics. In particular, Kiritsis' presentation of the basic material is complementary to that of the earlier textbooks and he includes a number of topics which are not easily found or covered adequately elsewhere, for example, loop corrections to string effective couplings. Overall the book nicely covers the major advances of the last ten years, including (non-perturbative) string dualities, black hole physics, AdS/CFT and matrix models. It provides a concise but fairly complete introduction to these subjects which can be used both by students and by researchers. Moreover the emphasis is on results that are reasonably established, as is appropriate for a textbook; concise summaries are given for subjects which are still in flux, with references to relevant reviews and papers. A positive feature of the book is that the bibliography sections at the end of each chapter provide a comprehensive guide to the literature. The bibliographies point to reviews and pedagogical papers on subjects covered in this book as well as those that were omitted. It is rare for a textbook to contain such a self-contained and detailed guide to

A Yang-Mills structure for string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsousheung Tsun

1990-01-01

String theorists believe that one way to achieve a fully quantized theory of string is through string field theory. The other way is to study conformal field theory on Riemann surfaces of different genera, which is the subject of many of the talks at this Conference. In a way, string field theory is the more conservative approach, since it aims just to replace the spacetime points of conventional quantum field theory by string, which are extended objects. However, from this point of view string theory has one rather unsatisfactory aspect, in the sense that although it has been very well developed and minutely studied, we are still rather unclear about its basic structure. We can contrast this to both general relativity, which is based on the geometry of spacetime, and to gauge theory, which is about the structure of various natural bundles over spacetime. And yet string theory is supposed to embody both these two essentially geometric theories. To paraphrase Witten, in string theory we seem to have to work backwards to get at the still unknown basic structure. Some joint work with Chan Hong-Mo is reported in an attempt to gain some understanding in that general direction. It seems that one could in some sense consider string field theory as a generalized Yang-Mills theory. This idea is explored. (author)

Introduction to the theory of strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peskin, M.E.

1985-10-01

These lectures present, from an introductory perspective, some basic aspects of the quantum theory of strings. They treat (1) the kinematics, spectrum, and scattering amplitude of the bosonic string, (2) the spectrum and supersymmetry of Green-Schwarz superstring, and (3) the identification of the underlying gauge invariances of the string theory. 43 refs

Symmetries and Interactions in Matrix String Theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hacquebord, F.H.

1999-01-01

This PhD-thesis reviews matrix string theory and recent developments therein. The emphasis is put on symmetries, interactions and scattering processes in the matrix model. We start with an introduction to matrix string theory and a review of the orbifold model that flows out of matrix string theory

Regularization of finite temperature string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leblanc, Y.; Knecht, M.; Wallet, J.C.

1990-01-01

The tachyonic divergences occurring in the free energy of various string theories at finite temperature are eliminated through the use of regularization schemes and analytic continuations. For closed strings, we obtain finite expressions which, however, develop an imaginary part above the Hagedorn temperature, whereas open string theories are still plagued with dilatonic divergences. (orig.)

Field theory of relativistic strings: I. Trees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaku, M.; Kikkawa, K.

1985-01-01

The authors present an entirely new kind of field theory, a field theory quantized not at space-time points, but quantized along an extended set of multilocal points on a string. This represents a significant departure from the usual quantum field theory, whose free theory represents a definite set of elementary particles, because the field theory on relativistic strings can accommodate an infinite set of linearly rising Regge trajectories. In this paper, the authors (1) present canonical quantization and the Green's function of the free string, (2) introduce three-string interactions, (3) resolve the question of multiple counting, (4) complete the counting arguments for all N-point trees, and (5) introduce four-string interactions which yield a Yang-Mills structure when the zero-slope limit is taken

Symmetry breaking in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potting, R.

1998-01-01

A mechanism for a spontaneous breakdown of CPT symmetry appears in string theory, with possible implications for particle models. A realistic string theory might exhibit CPT violation at levels detectable in current or future experiments. A possible new mechanism for baryogenesis in the early Universe is also discussed

The birth of string theory

CERN Document Server

Castellani, Elena; Colomo, Filippo; Di Vecchia, Paolo

2012-01-01

String theory is currently the best candidate for a unified theory of all forces and all forms of matter in nature. As such, it has become a focal point for physical and philosophical discussions. This unique book explores the history of the theory's early stages of development, as told by its main protagonists. The book journeys from the first version of the theory (the so-called dual resonance model) in the late sixties, as an attempt to describe the physics of strong interactions outside the framework of quantum field theory, to its reinterpretation around the mid-seventies as a quantum theory of gravity unified with the other forces, and its successive developments up to the superstring revolution in 1984. Providing important background information to current debates on the theory, this book is essential reading for students and researchers in physics, as well as historians and philosophers of science.

On novel string theories from 4d gauge theories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kiritsis Elias

2014-04-01

Full Text Available We investigate strings theories as defined from four dimensional gauge theories. It is argued that novel (superstring theories exist up to 26 dimensions. Some of them may support weakly curved geometries. A proposal is outlined to link their local conformal invariance to the dynamics of the bulk string theory.

Wilson loop, Regge trajectory and hadron masses in a Yang-Mills theory from semiclassical strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigazzi, F.; Cotrone, A.L.; Martucci, L.; Pando Zayas, L.A.

2004-07-01

We compute the one-loop string corrections to the Wilson loop, glueball Regge trajectory and stringy hadron masses in the Witten model of non supersymmetric, large-N Yang-Mills theory. The classical string configurations corresponding to the above field theory objects are respectively: open straight strings, folded closed spinning strings, and strings orbiting in the internal part of the supergravity background. For the rectangular Wilson loop we show that besides the standard Luscher term, string corrections provide a rescaling of the field theory string tension. The one-loop corrections to the linear glueball Regge trajectories render them nonlinear with a positive intercept, as in the experimental soft Pomeron trajectory. Strings orbiting in the internal space predict a spectrum of hadronic-like states charged under global flavor symmetries which falls in the same universality class of other confining models. (author)

(Non-)commutative closed string on T-dual toroidal backgrounds

CERN Document Server

Andriot, David; Lust, Dieter; Patalong, Peter

2013-01-01

In this paper we investigate the connection between (non-)geometry and (non-)commutativity of the closed string. To this end, we solve the classical string on three T-dual toroidal backgrounds: a torus with H-flux, a twisted torus and a non-geometric background with Q-flux. In all three situations we work under the assumption of a dilute flux and consider quantities to linear order in the flux density. Furthermore, we perform the first steps of a canonical quantization for the twisted torus, to derive commutators of the string expansion modes. We use them as well as T-duality to determine, in the non-geometric background, a commutator of two string coordinates, which turns out to be non-vanishing. We relate this non-commutativity to the closed string boundary conditions, and the non-geometric Q-flux.

Fluctuations from cosmic strings and the microwave background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandenberger, R.H.; Turok, N.

1986-01-01

The spectrum of energy-density perturbations and anisotropies in the microwave background radiation are calculated in models with cosmic strings. The computations are based on a mathematical model of the network of cosmic strings as a combination of a random walk of infinite strings and a distribution of string loops. The energy-density distribution is scale invariant at Hubble radius crossing, but the k dependence of the spectrum is nontrivial and not equal to the result for adiabatic linear perturbations. The anisotropies in the microwave background radiation are smaller than the observational upper bounds on all angular scales for a value μGapprox.2 x 10 -6 obtained from independent astrophysical considerations. We include both the effects due to gravitational lensing from long strings and from local gravitational perturbations due to loops (the Sachs-Wolfe effect)

Lectures on string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorn, C.B.

1988-01-01

Several topics are discussed in string theory presented as three lectures to the Spring School on Superstrings at the ICTP at Trieste, Italy, in April, 1988. The first lecture is devoted to some general aspects of conformal invariance and duality. The second sketches methods for carrying out perturbative calculations in string field theory. The final lecture presents an alternative lattice approach to a nonperturbative formulation of the sum over world surfaces. 35 refs., 12 figs

$\\mathcal{N}=2^\\star$ from Topological Amplitudes in String Theory

CERN Document Server

Florakis, Ioannis

2016-01-01

In this paper, we explicitly construct string theory backgrounds that realise the so-called $\\mathcal N=2^\\star$ gauge theory. We prove the consistency of our models by calculating their partition function and obtaining the correct gauge theory spectrum. We further provide arguments in favour of the universality of our construction which covers a wide class of models all of which engineer the same gauge theory. We reproduce the corresponding Nekrasov partition function once the $\\Omega$-deformation is included and the appropriate field theory limit taken. This is achieved by calculating the topological amplitudes $F_g$ in the string models. In addition to heterotic and type II constructions, we also realise the mass deformation in type I theory, thus leading to a natural way of uplifting the result to the instanton sector.

Cosmic strings in unified gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Everett, A.E.

1981-01-01

Some spontaneously broken gauge theories can give rise to stringlike vacuum structures (vortices). It has been pointed out by Vilenkin that in grand unified theories these can be sufficiently massive to have cosmological implications, e.g., in explaining the formation of galaxies. The circumstances in which such structures occur are examined. They do not occur in the simplest grand unified theories, but can occur in some more elaborate models which have been proposed. The cross section for the scattering of elementary particles by strings is estimated. This is used to evaluate the effect of collisions on the dynamics of a collapsing circular string, with particular attention to the question of whether energy dissipation by collision can reduce the rate of formation of black holes by collapsed strings, which may be unacceptably large in models where strings occur. It is found that the effect of collisions is not important in the case of grand unified strings, although it can be important for lighter strings

Deformation of the cubic open string field theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Taejin, E-mail: taejin@kangwon.ac.kr

2017-05-10

We study a consistent deformation of the cubic open bosonic string theory in such a way that the non-planar world sheet diagrams of the perturbative string theory are mapped onto their equivalent planar diagrams of the light-cone string field theory with some length parameters fixed. An explicit evaluation of the cubic string vertex in the zero-slope limit yields the correct relationship between the string coupling constant and the Yang–Mills coupling constant. The deformed cubic open string field theory is shown to produce the non-Abelian Yang–Mills action in the zero-slope limit if it is defined on multiple D-branes. Applying the consistent deformation systematically to multi-string world sheet diagrams, we may be able to calculate scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of external open strings.

Deformation of the cubic open string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Taejin

2017-01-01

We study a consistent deformation of the cubic open bosonic string theory in such a way that the non-planar world sheet diagrams of the perturbative string theory are mapped onto their equivalent planar diagrams of the light-cone string field theory with some length parameters fixed. An explicit evaluation of the cubic string vertex in the zero-slope limit yields the correct relationship between the string coupling constant and the Yang–Mills coupling constant. The deformed cubic open string field theory is shown to produce the non-Abelian Yang–Mills action in the zero-slope limit if it is defined on multiple D-branes. Applying the consistent deformation systematically to multi-string world sheet diagrams, we may be able to calculate scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of external open strings.

Deformation of the cubic open string field theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taejin Lee

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We study a consistent deformation of the cubic open bosonic string theory in such a way that the non-planar world sheet diagrams of the perturbative string theory are mapped onto their equivalent planar diagrams of the light-cone string field theory with some length parameters fixed. An explicit evaluation of the cubic string vertex in the zero-slope limit yields the correct relationship between the string coupling constant and the Yang–Mills coupling constant. The deformed cubic open string field theory is shown to produce the non-Abelian Yang–Mills action in the zero-slope limit if it is defined on multiple D-branes. Applying the consistent deformation systematically to multi-string world sheet diagrams, we may be able to calculate scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of external open strings.

Big bang models in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Craps, Ben [Theoretische Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and The International Solvay Institutes Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)

2006-11-07

These proceedings are based on lectures delivered at the 'RTN Winter School on Strings, Supergravity and Gauge Theories', CERN, 16-20 January 2006. The school was mainly aimed at PhD students and young postdocs. The lectures start with a brief introduction to spacetime singularities and the string theory resolution of certain static singularities. Then they discuss attempts to resolve cosmological singularities in string theory, mainly focusing on two specific examples: the Milne orbifold and the matrix big bang.

Hagedorn Behavior of Little String Theories from string corrections to NS5-branes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harmark, Troels; Obers, N. A.

2000-01-01

We examine the Hagedorn behavior of little string theory using its conjectured duality with near-horizon NS5-branes. In particular, by studying the string-corrected NS5-brane supergravity solution, it is shown that tree-level corrections to the temperature vanish, while the leading one-loop string...... correction generates the correct temperature dependence of the entropy near the Hagedorn temperature. Finally, the Hagedorn behavior of ODp-brane theories, which are deformed versions of little string theory, is considered via their supergravity duals....

Vacuum degeneracy in four-dimensional string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilles, H.P.

1988-01-01

I present results obtained in collaboration with A. Font, L. Ibanez and F. Quevedo using a method that links explicit string constructions with the techniques of supergravity field theories. We make use of the fact that the supersymmetric vacua of the field theory limit of d=4 N=1 superstring theories are all degenerate. Given a particular string theory we can then test for new 'nearby' string theories by an examination of flat directions in the scalar potential of the underlying field theory. As input from string theory we need the knowledge of the Yukawa couplings (i.e., the superpotential) for any number of fields. In the language of conformal field theory, this amounts to a search for exactly marginal operators and the classification of multicritical points. (orig./HSI)

String propagation in an exact four-dimensional black hole background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahapatra, S.

1997-01-01

We study string propagation in an exact, stringy, four-dimensional dyonic black hole background. The exact solutions in terms of elliptic functions describing string configurations in the J=0 limit are obtained by solving the string equations of motion and constraints. By using the covariant formalism, we also investigate the propagation of physical perturbations along the string in the given curved background. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Quantum consistency of open string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govaerts, J.

1989-01-01

We discuss how Virasoro anomalies in open string theories uniquely select the gauge group SO(2 D/2 ) independently of any regularisation, although the cancellation of these anomalies does not occur in tachyonic theories, and regulators can always be chosen to make these theories (one-loop) finite for any SO(n) and USp(n) gauge group. The discussion is mainly restricted to open bosonic strings. These results open new perspectives for the recent suggestion made by Sagnotti, the generalisations of which allow for the construction of new open string theories in less than ten dimensions. (orig.)

EFFECTIVE ACTIONS FOR HETEROTIC STRING THEORY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

SUELMANN, H

Heterotic String Theory is an attempt to construct a description of nature that is more satisfying than the Standard Model. A major problem is that it is very difficult to do explicit calculations in string theory. Therefore, it is useful to construct a 'normal' field theory that approximates HST.

Tensor constructions of open string theories. I. Foundations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaberdiel, M.R.; Zwiebach, B.

1997-01-01

The possible tensor constructions of open string theories are analyzed from first principles. To this end the algebraic framework of open string field theory is clarified, including the role of the homotopy associative A ∞ algebra, the odd symplectic structure, cyclicity, star conjugation, and twist. It is also shown that two string theories are off-shell equivalent if the corresponding homotopy associative algebras are homotopy equivalent in a strict sense. It is demonstrated that a homotopy associative star algebra with a compatible even bilinear form can be attached to an open string theory. If this algebra does not have a space-time interpretation, positivity and the existence of a conserved ghost number require that its cohomology is at degree zero, and that it has the structure of a direct sum of full matrix algebras. The resulting string theory is shown to be physically equivalent to a string theory with a familiar open string gauge group. (orig.)

Open string in the constant B-field background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jing Jian; Long Zhengwen

2005-01-01

A new method is proposed to quantize open strings in this paper. To illustrate our method, we analyze free open string as well as open string in the D-brane background with a nonvanishing B-field, respectively. The Poisson brackets among Fourier components are obtained firstly then we get the Poisson brackets among open string's coordinates. The noncommutativity of coordinates along the D-brane is reproduced. Some ambiguities in the previous discussions can be avoided

Geometry, topology, and string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varadarajan, Uday [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2003-01-01

A variety of scenarios are considered which shed light upon the uses and limitations of classical geometric and topological notions in string theory. The primary focus is on situations in which D-brane or string probes of a given classical space-time see the geometry quite differently than one might naively expect. In particular, situations in which extra dimensions, non-commutative geometries as well as other non-local structures emerge are explored in detail. Further, a preliminary exploration of such issues in Lorentzian space-times with non-trivial causal structures within string theory is initiated.

Geometry, topology, and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varadarajan, Uday

2003-01-01

A variety of scenarios are considered which shed light upon the uses and limitations of classical geometric and topological notions in string theory. The primary focus is on situations in which D-brane or string probes of a given classical space-time see the geometry quite differently than one might naively expect. In particular, situations in which extra dimensions, non-commutative geometries as well as other non-local structures emerge are explored in detail. Further, a preliminary exploration of such issues in Lorentzian space-times with non-trivial causal structures within string theory is initiated

Unity from duality: gravity, gauge theory and strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachas, C.; Bilal, A.; Douglas, M.; Nekrasov, N.; David, F.

2002-01-01

The 76. session of the summer school in theoretical physics was devoted to recent developments in string theory, gauge theories and quantum gravity. Superstring theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of all fundamental physical forces and elementary particles. The discovery of dualities and of important tools such as D-branes, has greatly reinforced this point of view. This document gathers the papers of 9 lectures: 1) supergravity, 2) supersymmetric gauge theories, 3) an introduction to duality symmetries, 4) large N field theories and gravity, 5) D-branes on the conifold and N = 1 gauge/gravity dualities, 6) de Sitter space, 7) string compactification with N = 1 supersymmetry, 8) open strings and non-commutative gauge theories, and 9) condensates near the Argyres-Douglas point in SU(2) gauge theory with broken N = 2 supersymmetry, and of 8 seminars: 1) quantum field theory with extra dimensions, 2) special holonomy spaces and M-theory, 3) four dimensional non-critical strings, 4) U-opportunities: why ten equal to ten?, 5) exact answers to approximate questions - non-commutative dipoles, open Wilson lines and UV-IR duality, 6) open-string models with broken supersymmetry, 7) on a field theory of open strings, tachyon condensation and closed strings, and 8) exceptional magic. (A.C.)

Two-loop string theory on null compactifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cove, Henry C.D.; Szabo, Richard J.

2006-01-01

We compute the two-loop contributions to the free energy in the null compactification of perturbative string theory at finite temperature. The cases of bosonic, type II and heterotic strings are all treated. The calculation exploits an explicit reductive parametrization of the moduli space of infinite-momentum frame string worldsheets in terms of branched cover instantons. Various arithmetic and physical properties of the instanton sums are described. Applications to symmetric product orbifold conformal field theories and to the matrix string theory conjecture are also briefly discussed

String amplitudes: from field theories to number theory

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2017-01-01

In a variety of recent developments, scattering amplitudes hint at new symmetries of and unexpected connections between physical theories which are otherwise invisible in their conventional description via Feynman diagrams or Lagrangians. Yet, many of these hidden structures are conveniently accessible to string theory where gauge interactions and gravity arise as the low-energy excitations of open and closed strings. In this talk, I will give an intuitive picture of gravity as a double copy of gauge interactions and extend the web of relations to scalar field theories including chiral Lagrangians for Goldstone bosons. The string corrections to gauge and gravity amplitudes beyond their point-particle limit exhibit elegant mathematical structures and offer a convenient laboratory to explore modern number-theoretic concepts in a simple context. As a common theme with Feynman integrals, string amplitudes introduce a variety of periods and special functions including multiple zeta values and polylogarithms, orga...

Supersymmetry and String Theory: Beyond the Standard Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rocek, Martin

2007-01-01

When I was asked to review Michael Dine's new book, 'Supersymmetry and String Theory', I was pleased to have a chance to read a book by such an established authority on how string theory might become testable. The book is most useful as a list of current topics of interest in modern theoretical physics. It gives a succinct summary of a huge variety of subjects, including the standard model, symmetry, Yang-Mills theory, quantization of gauge theories, the phenomenology of the standard model, the renormalization group, lattice gauge theory, effective field theories, anomalies, instantons, solitons, monopoles, dualities, technicolor, supersymmetry, the minimal supersymmetric standard model, dynamical supersymmetry breaking, extended supersymmetry, Seiberg-Witten theory, general relativity, cosmology, inflation, bosonic string theory, the superstring, the heterotic string, string compactifications, the quintic, string dualities, large extra dimensions, and, in the appendices, Goldstone's theorem, path integrals, and exact beta-functions in supersymmetric gauge theories. Its breadth is both its strength and its weakness: it is not (and could not possibly be) either a definitive reference for experts, where the details of thorny technical issues are carefully explored, or a textbook for graduate students, with detailed pedagogical expositions. As such, it complements rather than replaces the much narrower and more focussed String Theory I and II volumes by Polchinski, with their deep insights, as well the two older volumes by Green, Schwarz, and Witten, which develop string theory pedagogically. (book review)

On inflation and de Sitter in non-geometric string backgrounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hassler, Falk; Massai, Stefano [Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics, Fakultaet fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Luest, Dieter [Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics, Fakultaet fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Muenchen (Germany)

2017-10-15

We study the problem of obtaining de Sitter and inflationary vacua from dimensional reduction of double field theory (DFT) on nongeometric string backgrounds. In this context, we consider a new class of effective potentials that admit Minkowski and de Sitter minima. We then construct a simple model of chaotic inflation arising from T-fold backgrounds and we discuss the possibility of trans-Planckian field range from nongeometric monodromies as well as the conditions required to get slow roll. (copyright 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Massive IIA string theory and Matrix theory compactification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, David A.; Nastase, Horatiu; Ramgoolam, Sanjaye

2003-01-01

We propose a Matrix theory approach to Romans' massive Type IIA supergravity. It is obtained by applying the procedure of Matrix theory compactifications to Hull's proposal of the massive Type IIA string theory as M-theory on a twisted torus. The resulting Matrix theory is a super-Yang-Mills theory on large N three-branes with a space-dependent noncommutativity parameter, which is also independently derived by a T-duality approach. We give evidence showing that the energies of a class of physical excitations of the super-Yang-Mills theory show the correct symmetry expected from massive Type IIA string theory in a lightcone quantization

Supersymmetrical dual string theories and their field theory limits: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, M.B.

1985-01-01

This paper outlines the construction and properties of supersymmetric string theories. Such theories, which describe the quantum mechanics of relativistic strings in ten-space time dimensions contain both N=4 Yang-Mills and N=8 supergravity field theories as special limits in which the string tension becomes infinite. Calculations of one-loop S-matrix elements reveal remarkable finiteness properties

Introduction to conformal field theory. With applications to string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumenhagen, Ralph; Plauschinn, Erik

2009-01-01

Based on class-tested notes, this text offers an introduction to Conformal Field Theory with a special emphasis on computational techniques of relevance for String Theory. It introduces Conformal Field Theory at a basic level, Kac-Moody algebras, one-loop partition functions, Superconformal Field Theories, Gepner Models and Boundary Conformal Field Theory. Eventually, the concept of orientifold constructions is explained in detail for the example of the bosonic string. In providing many detailed CFT calculations, this book is ideal for students and scientists intending to become acquainted with CFT techniques relevant for string theory but also for students and non-specialists from related fields. (orig.)

From N=2 strings to M-theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketov, S.V.

1997-01-01

Taking the N=2 strings as the starting point, we discuss the equivalent self-dual field theories and analyze their symmetry structure in 2 + 2 dimensions. Restoring the full 'Lorentz' invariance in the target space necessarily leads to an extension of the N=2 string theory to a theory of 2 + 2 dimensional supermembranes propagating in 2 + 10 dimensional target space. The supermembrane requires maximal conformal supersymmetry in 2 + 2 dimensions, in the way advocated by Siegel, and it leads to the self-dual N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory and the self-dual N=8 (gauged) supergravity in 2+2 dimensions. The N=2 strings now appear on equal footing with the other string models as particular limits of the M-theory. (orig.)

Geometric derivation of string field theory from first principles: Closed strings and modular invariance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaku, M.

1988-01-01

We present an entirely new approach to closed-string field theory, called Igeometric string field theory R, which avoids the complications found in Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin string field theory (e.g., ghost counting, infinite overcounting of diagrams, midpoints, lack of modular invariance). Following the analogy with general relativity and Yang-Mills theory, we define a new infinite-dimensional local gauge group, called the unified string group, which uniquely specifies the connection fields, the curvature tensor, the measure and tensor calculus, and finally the action itself. Geometric field theory, when gauge fixed, yields an entirely new class of gauges called the interpolating gauge which allows us to smoothly interpolate between the midpoint gauge and the end-point gauge (''covariantized light-cone gauge''). We can show that geometric string field theory reproduces one copy of the Shapiro-Virasoro model. Surprisingly, after the gauge is broken, a new Iclosed four-string interactionR emerges as the counterpart of the instantaneous four-fermion Coulomb term in QED. This term restores modular invariance and precisely fills the missing region of the complex plane

String theory and the scientific method

CERN Document Server

Dawid, Richard

2013-01-01

String theory has played a highly influential role in theoretical physics for nearly three decades and has substantially altered our view of the elementary building principles of the Universe. However, the theory remains empirically unconfirmed, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. So why do string theorists have such a strong belief in their theory? This book explores this question, offering a novel insight into the nature of theory assessment itself. Dawid approaches the topic from a unique position, having extensive experience in both philosophy and high-energy physics. He argues that string theory is just the most conspicuous example of a number of theories in high-energy physics where non-empirical theory assessment has an important part to play. Aimed at physicists and philosophers of science, the book does not use mathematical formalism and explains most technical terms.

Topics in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neveu, A.

1986-01-01

There exist several string models. In the first lecture, the simplest one, the open bosonic string, which turns out to live most naturally in 26 dimensions will be described in some detail. In the second lecture, the closed bosonic strings, and the open and closed 10-dimensional strings (superstrings) are reviewed. In the third lecture, various compactification schemes which have been proposed to deal with the extra space dimensions, from 4 to 10 or 26 are dealt with; in particular, the Frenkel-Kac construction which builds non-Abelian internal symmetry groups out of the compactified dimensions, and the resulting heterotic string are described. Finally, in the fourth lecture, the important problem of the second quantization of string theories, and of the underlying gauge invariance which is responsible for the possibility of dealing, in a consistent fashion, with interacting high-spin states without negative metric is addressed. 41 references, 8 figures

Orbifolds of M-theory and type II string theories in two dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, S.

1997-01-01

We consider several orbifold compactifications of M-theory and theircorresponding type II duals in two space-time dimensions. In particular, we show that while the orbifold compactification of M-theory on T 9 /J 9 is dual to the orbifold compactification of type IIB string theory on T 8 /I 8 , the same orbifold T 8 /I 8 of type IIA string theory is dual to M-theory compactified on a smooth product manifold K3 x T 5 . Similarly, while the orbifold compactification of M-theory on (K3 x T 5 )/σ. J 5 is dual to the orbifold compactification of type IIB string theory on (K3 x T 4 )/σ.I 4 , the same orbifold of type IIA string theory is dual to the orbifold T 4 x (K3 x S 1 )/σ.J 1 of M-theory. The spectrum of various orbifold compactifications of M-theory and type II string theories on both sides are compared giving evidence in favor of these duality conjectures. We also comment on a connection between the Dasgupta-Mukhi-Witten conjecture and the Dabholkar-Park-Sen conjecture for the six-dimensional orbifold models of type IIB string theory and M-theory. (orig.)

Solution of the dilaton problem in open bosonic string theories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bern, Z. (Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)); Dunbar, D.C. (Liverpool Univ. (United Kingdom))

1991-01-01

One of the most remarkable features of string theories is that they seem to provide a framework for a consistent theory of quantum gravity which is unified with all other forces. String theories fall into the two basic, a priori equally interesting, categories of open and closed string theories. For the past five years virtually all attention has been focused on purely closed string theories even though the reincarnation of string theory began with the discovery of anomaly cancellation and finiteness in the Green-Schwarz open superstring. It is the authors' purpose in this essay to rekindle interest in open string theories as potential theories of nature, including gravity. All string theories naively contain a massless dilaton which couples with the strength of gravity in direct violation of experiment. They present a simple mechanism for giving the dilaton a mass in unoriented open bosonic string theories.

Solution of the dilaton problem in open bosonic string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bern, Z.; Dunbar, D.C.

1991-01-01

One of the most remarkable features of string theories is that they seem to provide a framework for a consistent theory of quantum gravity which is unified with all other forces. String theories fall into the two basic, a priori equally interesting, categories of open and closed string theories. For the past five years virtually all attention has been focused on purely closed string theories even though the reincarnation of string theory began with the discovery of anomaly cancellation and finiteness in the Green-Schwarz open superstring. It is the authors' purpose in this essay to rekindle interest in open string theories as potential theories of nature, including gravity. All string theories naively contain a massless dilaton which couples with the strength of gravity in direct violation of experiment. They present a simple mechanism for giving the dilaton a mass in unoriented open bosonic string theories

Proceedings of the 14. Claude Itzykson Meeting-2009 recent advances in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aharoni, O.; Arkani-Hamed, N.; Becker, K.; Berkovits, N.; Bern, Z.; De Boer, J.; Emparan, R.; Green, M.; Hartnoll, S.; Heckman, J.; Kachru, S.; Lambert, N.; Louis, J.; Marino, M.; Mathur, S.; McAllister, L.; McGreevy, J.; Polchinski, J.; Sen, A.; Weigand, T.

2009-01-01

This document is made up of the slides of the presentations. The titles of the 20 presentations are the following: 1) On d=3 Yang-Mills Chern-Simons theories with 'fractional branes' and their gravity duals; 2) Holography and the S-Matrix; 3) Torsional heterotic geometries; 4) Spin chains from the topological AdS 5 xS 5 string; 5) Harmony of Scattering Amplitudes: from N=4 Super-Yang-Mills Theory to N=8 Supergravity; 6) Quantum aspects of black holes; 7) Black-folds; 8) Supersymmetric String and Field Theory Scattering Amplitudes; 9) Quantum bosons for holographic superconductors; 10) The Point of E8 in F-theory GUTs; 11) Gauge/gravity duality and particle physics; 12) Coupling M2-branes to Background Fields; 13) Compactifications and Generalized Geometries; 14) Nonperturbative aspects of the topological string; 15) Lessons from the information paradox: 16) Inflation in String Theory; 17) Holographic descriptions of quantum liquids; 18) Holography from CFT; 19) Black hole hair removal; and 20) Type IIB GUT vacua and their F-theory uplift

Nonabelian gauge fields in the background of magnetic strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieczorek, E.

1993-01-01

Quantized nonabelian gauge fields are studied in the external classical background of a linear magnetic string. The determination of the gauge field propagator demands a specification of the string by suitable physical limiting procedures. The vacuum energy density is obtained after transforming the background problem into a Casimir problem. (orig.)

Mass corrections in string theory and lattice field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Debbio, Luigi; Kerrane, Eoin; Russo, Rodolfo

2009-01-01

Kaluza-Klein (KK) compactifications of higher-dimensional Yang-Mills theories contain a number of 4-dimensional scalars corresponding to the internal components of the gauge field. While at tree level the scalar zero modes are massless, it is well known that quantum corrections make them massive. We compute these radiative corrections at 1 loop in an effective field theory framework, using the background field method and proper Schwinger-time regularization. In order to clarify the proper treatment of the sum over KK modes in the effective field theory approach, we consider the same problem in two different UV completions of Yang-Mills: string theory and lattice field theory. In both cases, when the compactification radius R is much bigger than the scale of the UV completion (R>>√(α ' ), a), we recover a mass renormalization that is independent of the UV scale and agrees with the one derived in the effective field theory approach. These results support the idea that the value of the mass corrections is, in this regime, universal for any UV completion that respects locality and gauge invariance. The string analysis suggests that this property holds also at higher loops. The lattice analysis suggests that the mass of the adjoint scalars appearing in N=2, 4 super Yang-Mills is highly suppressed, even if the lattice regularization breaks all supersymmetries explicitly. This is due to an interplay between the higher-dimensional gauge invariance and the degeneracy of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom.

String Theory for Pedestrians (1/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2009-01-01

This is a non-technical rapid course on string theory. Lecture 1 is an introduction to the basics of the subject: classical and quantum strings, D(irichlet) branes and string-string dualities. In lecture 2 I will discuss string unification of the fundamental forces, covering both its successes and failures. Finally in lecture 3 I will review string models of black hole microstates, the holographic gauge/gravity duality and, if time permits, potential applications to the physics of the strong interactions.

String Theory for Pedestrians (2/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2009-01-01

This is a non-technical rapid course on string theory. Lecture 1 is an introduction to the basics of the subject: classical and quantum strings, D(irichlet) branes and string-string dualities. In lecture 2 I will discuss string unification of the fundamental forces, covering both its successes and failures. Finally in lecture 3 I will review string models of black hole microstates, the holographic gauge/gravity duality and, if time permits, potential applications to the physics of the strong interactions.

String Theory for Pedestrians (3/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2009-01-01

This is a non-technical rapid course on string theory. Lecture 1 is an introduction to the basics of the subject: classical and quantum strings, D(irichlet) branes and string-string dualities. In lecture 2 I will discuss string unification of the fundamental forces, covering both its successes and failures. Finally in lecture 3 I will review string models of black hole microstates, the holographic gauge/gravity duality and, if time permits, potential applications to the physics of the strong interactions.

Bosonic strings

CERN Document Server

Jost, Jürgen

2007-01-01

This book presents a mathematical treatment of Bosonic string theory from the point of view of global geometry. As motivation, Jost presents the theory of point particles and Feynman path integrals. He provides detailed background material, including the geometry of Teichmüller space, the conformal and complex geometry of Riemann surfaces, and the subtleties of boundary regularity questions. The high point is the description of the partition function for Bosonic strings as a finite-dimensional integral over a moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Jost concludes with some topics related to open and closed strings and D-branes. Bosonic Strings is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in the mathematics underlying string theory.

On noncommutative open string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, J.G.; Sheikh-Jabbari, M.M.

2000-08-01

We investigate new compactifications of OM theory giving rise to a 3+1 dimensional open string theory with noncommutative x 0 -x 1 and x 2 -x 3 coordinates. The theory can be directly obtained by starting with a D3 brane with parallel (near critical) electric and magnetic field components, in the presence of a RR scalar field. The magnetic parameter permits to interpolate continuously between the x 0 -x 1 noncommutative open string theory and the x 2 -x 3 spatial noncommutative U(N) super Yang-Mills theory. We discuss SL(2, Z) transformations of this theory. Using the supergravity description of the large N limit, we also compute corrections to the quark-antiquark Coulomb potential arising in the NCOS theory. (author)

Noncompact symmetries in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maharana, J.; Schwarz, J.H.

1993-01-01

Noncompact groups, similar to those that appeared in various supergravity theories in the 1970's have been turning up in recent studies of string theory. First it was discovered that moduli spaces of toroidal compactification are given by noncompact groups modded out by their maximal compact subgroups and discrete duality groups. Then it was found that many other moduli spaces have analogous descriptions. More recently, noncompact group symmetries have turned up in effective actions used to study string cosmology and other classical configurations. This paper explores these noncompact groups in the case of toroidal compactification both from the viewpoint of low-energy effective field theory, using the method of dimensional reduction, and from the viewpoint of the string theory world-sheet. The conclusion is that all these symmetries are intimately related. In particular, we find that Chern-Simons terms in the three-form field strength H μνρ play a crucial role. (orig.)

Non-topological non-commutativity in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guttenberg, S.; Herbst, M.; Kreuzer, M.; Rashkov, R.

2008-01-01

Quantization of coordinates leads to the non-commutative product of deformation quantization, but is also at the roots of string theory, for which space-time coordinates become the dynamical fields of a two-dimensional conformal quantum field theory. Appositely, open string diagrams provided the inspiration for Kontsevich's solution of the long-standing problem of quantization of Poisson geometry by virtue of his formality theorem. In the context of D-brane physics non-commutativity is not limited, however, to the topological sector. We show that non-commutative effective actions still make sense when associativity is lost and establish a generalized Connes-Flato-Sternheimer condition through second order in a derivative expansion. The measure in general curved backgrounds is naturally provided by the Born-Infeld action and reduces to the symplectic measure in the topological limit, but remains non-singular even for degenerate Poisson structures. Analogous superspace deformations by RR-fields are also discussed. (Abstract Copyright [2008], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Stable monopole-antimonopole string background in SU(2) QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Y.M.; Pak, D.G.

2006-01-01

Motivated by the instability of the Savvidy-Nielsen-Olesen (SNO) vacuum we make a systematic search for a stable magnetic background in pure SU(2) QCD. It is shown that a pair of axially symmetric monopole and antimonopole strings is stable, provided that the distance between the two strings is less than a critical value. The existence of a stable monopole-antimonopole string background strongly supports that a magnetic condensation of monopole-antimonopole pairs can generate a dynamical symmetry breaking, and thus the magnetic confinement of color in QCD

Non-renormalisation theorems in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanhove, P.

2007-10-01

In this thesis we describe various non renormalisation theorems for the string effective action. These results are derived in the context of the M theory conjecture allowing to connect the four gravitons string theory S matrix elements with that of eleven dimensional supergravity. These theorems imply that N = 8 supergravity theory has the same UV behaviour as the N = 4 supersymmetric Yang Mills theory at least up to three loops, and could be UV finite in four dimensions. (author)

E(lementary) Strings in Six-Dimensional Heterotic F-Theory

OpenAIRE

Choi, Kang-Sin; Rey, Soo-Jong

2017-01-01

Using E-strings, we can analyze not only six-dimensional superconformal field theories but also probe vacua of non-perturabative heterotic string. We study strings made of D3-branes wrapped on various two-cycles in the global F-theory setup. We claim that E-strings are elementary in the sense that various combinations of E-strings can form M-strings as well as heterotic strings and new kind of strings, called G-strings. Using them, we show that emissions and combinations of heterotic small in...

Environmental CPT Violation in an Expanding Universe in String Theory

CERN Document Server

Ellis, John; Sarkar, Sarben

2013-01-01

We consider a model of an expanding Universe in string theory that yields `environmental' CPT violation for fermions, in the sense of different dispersion relations for fermions and antifermions. These are induced by a cosmological background with constant torsion provided by the Kalb-Ramond antisymmetric tensor field (axion) of the string gravitational multiplet. This effect induces different densities of neutrinos and antineutrinos while in chemical equilibrium, offering new scenarios for leptogenesis and baryogenesis even in the absence of CP violation.

Physics is in trouble, the string theory has failed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smolin, L.

2007-01-01

The popularity of the string theory is based on its claim to explain both the very big and the very small: gravity and elementary particles. The string theory assumes that the real world contains dimensions that have not yet been observed and that any elementary particle is a vibration of a unique entity called string that obeys simple and elegant laws. Most theoretical physicists and mathematicians have focused their attention on this theory for the last 25 years and the diagnosis is clear: string theory fails to cope with the standard model and to explain the existence of dark matter or the mass of neutrinos. The string theory is hailed for its beauty or elegancy but this theory has never been backed by experimental data. While science has made significant progress in numerous domains, particle physics seems to have reached a dead-end. It is high time we officially questioned the string theory and opened the gate for alternative theories. (A.C.)

Lectures on strings and dualities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vafa, C.

1997-01-01

In this set of lectures I review recent developments in string theory emphasizing their non-perturbative aspects and their recently discovered duality symmetries. The goal of the lectures is to make the recent exciting developments in string theory accessible to those with no previous background in string theory who wish to join the research effort in this area. Topics covered include a brief review of string theory, its compactifications, solitons and D-branes, black hole entropy and wed of string dualities. (author)

Supersymmetric gauge theories from string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metzger, St.

2005-12-01

This thesis presents various ways to construct four-dimensional quantum field theories from string theory. In a first part we study the generation of a supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, coupled to an adjoint chiral superfield, from type IIB string theory on non-compact Calabi-Yau manifolds, with D-branes wrapping certain sub-cycles. Properties of the gauge theory are then mapped to the geometric structure of the Calabi-Yau space. Even if the Calabi-Yau geometry is too complicated to evaluate the geometric integrals explicitly, one can then always use matrix model perturbation theory to calculate the effective superpotential. The second part of this work covers the generation of four-dimensional super-symmetric gauge theories, carrying several important characteristic features of the standard model, from compactifications of eleven-dimensional supergravity on G 2 -manifolds. If the latter contain conical singularities, chiral fermions are present in the four-dimensional gauge theory, which potentially lead to anomalies. We show that, locally at each singularity, these anomalies are cancelled by the non-invariance of the classical action through a mechanism called 'anomaly inflow'. Unfortunately, no explicit metric of a compact G 2 -manifold is known. Here we construct families of metrics on compact weak G 2 -manifolds, which contain two conical singularities. Weak G 2 -manifolds have properties that are similar to the ones of proper G 2 -manifolds, and hence the explicit examples might be useful to better understand the generic situation. Finally, we reconsider the relation between eleven-dimensional supergravity and the E 8 x E 8 -heterotic string. This is done by carefully studying the anomalies that appear if the supergravity theory is formulated on a ten-manifold times the interval. Again we find that the anomalies cancel locally at the boundaries of the interval through anomaly inflow, provided one suitably modifies the classical action. (author)

A non-supersymmetric open-string theory and S-duality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergman, O.; Gaberdiel, M.R.

1997-01-01

A non-supersymmetric ten-dimensional open-string theory is constructed as an orbifold of type I string theory, and as an orientifold of the bosonic type B theory. It is purely bosonic, and cancellation of massless tadpoles requires the gauge group to be SO(32) x SO(32). The spectrum of the theory contains a closed-string tachyon, and open-string tachyons in the (32,32) multiplet. The D-branes of this theory are analyzed, and it is found that the massless excitations of one of the 1-branes coincide with the world-sheet degrees of freedom of the D=26 bosonic string theory compactified on the SO(32) lattice. This suggests that the two theories are related by S-duality. (orig.)

The tension as perturbative parameter in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamboa, J.

1990-01-01

We propose an approach to string theory where the zero theory is the null string. We find an explicit form of the propagator for the null string in the momentum space. We show that considering the tension as perturbative parameter, the perturbative series is completely summable and we find the propagator of the bosonic open string with tension T. (author) [pt

Calculations in perturbative string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorn, C.B.

1987-01-01

The author discusses methods for evaluating the Feynman diagrams of string field theory, with particular emphasis on Witten's version of open string field theory. It is explained in some detail how the rules states by Giddings and Martinec for relating a given diagram to a Polyakov path integral emerge from the Feynman rules

A brief history of string theory. From dual models to M-theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rickles, Dean

2014-01-01

First monograph devoted to the history of superstring theory. Objective presentation of a controversial area of physics enabling readers to see through the divisive hype and hysteria forming the 'String Wars'. Interweaves conceptual issues with the wider historical development. Reveals string theory's historically close connections with other areas of physics. Self-contained approach brings string theory within the grasp of non-specialists. During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and written in a lively fashion, the book will appeal to a wide variety of readers from novice to specialist.

String Theory: Big Problem for Small Size

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, S.

2009-01-01

String theory is the most promising candidate theory for a unified description of all the fundamental forces that exist in nature. It provides a mathematical framework that combines quantum theory with Einstein's general theory of relativity. The typical size of a string is of the order of 10[superscript -33] cm, called the Planck length. But due…

New twistor string theories revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broedel, Johannes; Wurm, Bernhard

2009-01-01

A gauged version of Berkovits twistor string theory featuring the particle content of N=8 supergravity was suggested by Abou-Zeid, Hull and Mason. The equations of motion for a particular multiplet in the modified theory are examined on the level of basic twistor fields and thereby shown to imply the vanishing of the negative helicity graviton on-shell. Additionally, the restrictions emerging from the equation of motion for the new gauge field B-bar reveal the chiral nature of interactions in theories constructed in this manner. Moreover, a particular amplitude in Berkovits open string theory is shown to be in agreement with the corresponding result in Einstein gravity.

Fayet-Iliopoulos D terms in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sen, A.

1987-06-01

One loop scalar masses induced by Fayet-Ilipoulos D terms in string theory are calculated directly in the heterotic string theory for an arbitrary compactification which preserves space-time supersymmetry at the string tree level. The result is shown to be a total derivative in the moduli space of a torus with two punctures, and hence receives contribution only from the boundary of this moduli space.

Fayet-Iliopoulos D terms in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.

1987-06-01

One loop scalar masses induced by Fayet-Ilipoulos D terms in string theory are calculated directly in the heterotic string theory for an arbitrary compactification which preserves space-time supersymmetry at the string tree level. The result is shown to be a total derivative in the moduli space of a torus with two punctures, and hence receives contribution only from the boundary of this moduli space

String Theory Rocks!

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

String Theory supporters argue that the universe we live in has eleven dimensions, out of which three spacial dimensions and a temporal one, which define the void and the space-time environment we experience daily.

A string theory which isn't about strings

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kanghoon; Rey, Soo-Jong; Rosabal, J. A.

2017-11-01

Quantization of closed string proceeds with a suitable choice of worldsheet vacuum. A priori, the vacuum may be chosen independently for left-moving and right-moving sectors. We construct ab initio quantized bosonic string theory with left-right asymmetric worldsheet vacuum and explore its consequences and implications. We critically examine the validity of new vacuum and carry out first-quantization using standard operator formalism. Remarkably, the string spectrum consists only of a finite number of degrees of freedom: string gravity (massless spin-two, Kalb-Ramond and dilaton fields) and two massive spin-two Fierz-Pauli fields. The massive spin-two fields have negative norm, opposite mass-squared, and provides a Lee-Wick type extension of string gravity. We compute two physical observables: tree-level scattering amplitudes and one-loop cosmological constant. Scattering amplitude of four dilatons is shown to be a rational function of kinematic invariants, and in D = 26 factorizes into contributions of massless spin-two and a pair of massive spin-two fields. The string one loop partition function is shown to perfectly agree with one loop Feynman diagram of string gravity and two massive spin-two fields. In particular, it does not exhibit modular invariance. We critically compare our construction with recent studies and contrast differences.

Exotic configurations for gauge theory strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yajnik, U.A.

1987-01-01

This paper discusses a class of string configurations occuring in nonabelian gauge theories, which are such that a component of the charged scalar field responsible for the string has a nonvanishing expectation value in the core of the string. A systematic procedure is given for setting up the ansatz for such configurations. (orig.)

Gravitational-Wave Stochastic Background from Cosmic Strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siemens, Xavier; Creighton, Jolien; Mandic, Vuk

2007-01-01

We consider the stochastic background of gravitational waves produced by a network of cosmic strings and assess their accessibility to current and planned gravitational wave detectors, as well as to big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), cosmic microwave background (CMB), and pulsar timing constraints. We find that current data from interferometric gravitational wave detectors, such as Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), are sensitive to areas of parameter space of cosmic string models complementary to those accessible to pulsar, BBN, and CMB bounds. Future more sensitive LIGO runs and interferometers such as Advanced LIGO and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be able to explore substantial parts of the parameter space

Cosmology from string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anchordoqui, Luis; Nawata, Satoshi; Goldberg, Haim; Nunez, Carlos

2007-01-01

We explore the cosmological content of Salam-Sezgin six-dimensional supergravity, and find a solution to the field equations in qualitative agreement with observation of distant supernovae, primordial nucleosynthesis abundances, and recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background. The carrier of the acceleration in the present de Sitter epoch is a quintessence field slowly rolling down its exponential potential. Intrinsic to this model is a second modulus which is automatically stabilized and acts as a source of cold dark matter, with a mass proportional to an exponential function of the quintessence field (hence realizing varying mass particle models within a string context). However, any attempt to saturate the present cold dark matter component in this manner leads to unacceptable deviations from cosmological data--a numerical study reveals that this source can account for up to about 7% of the total cold dark matter budget. We also show that (1) the model will support a de Sitter energy in agreement with observation at the expense of a miniscule breaking of supersymmetry in the compact space; (2) variations in the fine structure constant are controlled by the stabilized modulus and are negligible; (3) ''fifth'' forces are carried by the stabilized modulus and are short range; (4) the long time behavior of the model in four dimensions is that of a Robertson-Walker universe with a constant expansion rate (w=-1/3). Finally, we present a string theory background by lifting our six-dimensional cosmological solution to ten dimensions

String theory of the Regge intercept.

Science.gov (United States)

Hellerman, S; Swanson, I

2015-03-20

Using the Polchinski-Strominger effective string theory in the covariant gauge, we compute the mass of a rotating string in D dimensions with large angular momenta J, in one or two planes, in fixed ratio, up to and including first subleading order in the large J expansion. This constitutes a first-principles calculation of the value for the order-J(0) contribution to the mass squared of a meson on the leading Regge trajectory in planar QCD with bosonic quarks. For open strings with Neumann boundary conditions, and for closed strings in D≥5, the order-J(0) term in the mass squared is exactly calculated by the semiclassical approximation. This term in the expansion is universal and independent of the details of the theory, assuming only D-dimensional Poincaré invariance and the absence of other infinite-range excitations on the string world volume, beyond the Nambu-Goldstone bosons.

Boundary operators in effective string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hellerman, Simeon [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan); Swanson, Ian [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan)

2017-04-13

Various universal features of relativistic rotating strings depend on the organization of allowed local operators on the worldsheet. In this paper, we study the set of Neumann boundary operators in effective string theory, which are relevant for the controlled study of open relativistic strings with freely moving endpoints. Relativistic open strings are thought to encode the dynamics of confined quark-antiquark pairs in gauge theories in the planar approximation. Neumann boundary operators can be organized by their behavior under scaling of the target space coordinates X{sup μ}, and the set of allowed X-scaling exponents is bounded above by +1/2 and unbounded below. Negative contributions to X-scalings come from powers of a single invariant, or “dressing' operator, which is bilinear in the embedding coordinates. In particular, we show that all Neumann boundary operators are dressed by quarter-integer powers of this invariant, and we demonstrate how this rule arises from various ways of regulating the short-distance singularities of the effective theory.

Dirichlet branes and nonperturbative aspects of supersymmetric string and gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, Zheng

1999-01-01

In chapter 1 the author reviews some elements of string theory relevant to the rest of this report. He touches on both the classical, i.e. perturbative, string physics before D-branes rise to prominence, and some of the progresses they brought forth. In chapter 2 he proceeds to give an exact algebraic formulation of D-branes in curved spaces. This allows one to classify them in backgrounds of interest and study their geometric properties. He applies this formalism to string theory on Calabi-Yau and other supersymmetry preserving manifolds. Then he studies the behavior of the D-branes under mirror symmetry in chapter 3. Mirror symmetry is known to be a symmetry of string theory perturbatively. He finds evidence for its nonperturbative validity when D-branes are also considered and compute some dynamical consequences. In chapter 4 he turns to examine the consistency of curved and/or intersecting D-brane configurations. They have been used recently to extract information about the field theories that arise in certain limits. It turns out that there are potential quantum mechanical inconsistencies associated with them. What saves the day are certain subtle topological properties of D-branes. This resolution has implications for the conserved charges carried by the D-branes, which he computes for the cases studied in chapter 2. In chapter 5 he uses intersecting brane configurations to study three dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories. There is also a mirror symmetry there that, among other things, exchanges classical and quantum mechanical quantities of a (mirror) pair of theories. It has an elegant realization in term of a symmetry of string theory involving D-branes. The author employs it to study a wide class of 3d models. He also predicts new mirror pairs and unconventional 3d field theories without Lagrangian descriptions

A brief history of string theory. From dual models to M-theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rickles, Dean [Sydney Univ. (Australia). Unit for History and Philosophy of Science

2014-04-01

First monograph devoted to the history of superstring theory. Objective presentation of a controversial area of physics enabling readers to see through the divisive hype and hysteria forming the 'String Wars'. Interweaves conceptual issues with the wider historical development. Reveals string theory's historically close connections with other areas of physics. Self-contained approach brings string theory within the grasp of non-specialists. During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and written in a lively fashion, the book will appeal to a wide variety of readers from novice to specialist.

Perturbation theory for quantized string fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorn, C.B.; Florida Univ., Gainesville

1987-01-01

We discuss the problem of gauge fixing in string field theory. We show that BRST invariance requires the gauge-fixed action to contain terms cubic in the ghost... of ghost of ghost fields. The final BRST invariant gauge-fixed action for the gauge b 0 A=0 is extremely simple: with the proper interpretation (as given in this article), it is essentially the one anticipated earlier in the work of Giddings, Martinec, and Witten in their analysis of the BRST invariant world-sheet approach to string theory. We derive the Feynman rules from this action and explain in detail how the sum over sufaces of the BRST first-quantized string is reproduced. This result depends crucially on the correct assignment for the Grassmann character of the string field and its ghost... of ghost of ghost string fields. If all these fields are unified in a single string field Φ containing all ghost numbers, the requirements is that Φ be uniformly Grassmann odd. Finally, we do some sample calculations which provide some simple checks on our general results. (orig.)

Generalized string theory mapping relations between gravity and gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjerrum-Bohr, N.E.J.

2003-01-01

A previous study of the Kawai, Lewellen and Tye (KLT) relations between gravity and gauge theories, imposed by the relationship of closed and open strings, are here extended in the light of general relativity and Yang-Mills theory as effective field theories. We discuss the possibility of generalizing the traditional KLT mapping in this effective setting. A generalized mapping between the effective Lagrangians of gravity and Yang-Mills theory is presented, and the corresponding operator relations between gauge and gravity theories at the tree level are further explored. From this generalized mapping remarkable diagrammatic relations are found, linking diagrams in gravity and Yang-Mills theory, as well as diagrams in pure effective Yang-Mills theory. Also the possibility of a gravitational coupling to an antisymmetric field in the gravity scattering amplitude is considered, and shown to allow for mixed open-closed string solutions, i.e., closed heterotic strings

Classical theory of radiating strings

Science.gov (United States)

Copeland, Edmund J.; Haws, D.; Hindmarsh, M.

1990-01-01

The divergent part of the self force of a radiating string coupled to gravity, an antisymmetric tensor and a dilaton in four dimensions are calculated to first order in classical perturbation theory. While this divergence can be absorbed into a renormalization of the string tension, demanding that both it and the divergence in the energy momentum tensor vanish forces the string to have the couplings of compactified N = 1 D = 10 supergravity. In effect, supersymmetry cures the classical infinities.

Open string model building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishibashi, Nobuyuki; Onogi, Tetsuya

1989-01-01

Consistency conditions of open string theories, which can be a powerful tool in open string model building, are proposed. By making use of these conditions and assuming a simple prescription for the Chan-Paton factors, open string theories in several backgrounds are studied. We show that 1. there exist a large number of consistent bosonic open string theories on Z 2 orbifolds, 2. SO(32) type I superstring is the unique consistent model among fermionic string theories on the ten-dimensional flat Minkowski space, and 3. with our prescription for the Chan-Paton factors, there exist no consistent open superstring theories on (six-dimensional Minkowski space-time) x (Z 2 orbifold). (orig.)

Comparing double string theory actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Angelis, L.; Gionti, S.J.G.; Marotta, R.; Pezzella, F.

2014-01-01

Aimed to a deeper comprehension of a manifestly T-dual invariant formulation of string theory, in this paper a detailed comparison between the non-covariant action proposed by Tseytlin and the covariant one proposed by Hull is done. These are obtained by making both the string coordinates and their duals explicitly appear, on the same footing, in the world-sheet action, so “doubling” the string coordinates along the compact dimensions. After a discussion on the nature of the constraints in both the models and the relative quantization, it results that the string coordinates and their duals behave like “non-commuting” phase space coordinates but their expressions in terms of Fourier modes generate the oscillator algebra of the standard bosonic string. A proof of the equivalence of the two formulations is given. Furthermore, open-string solutions are also discussed

Comparing double string theory actions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Angelis, L. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli,Complesso Universitario Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Gionti, S.J.G. [Specola Vaticana, Vatican City, V-00120, Vatican City State and Vatican Observatory Research Group, Steward Observatory, The University Of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (United States); Marotta, R.; Pezzella, F. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli,Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy)

2014-04-28

Aimed to a deeper comprehension of a manifestly T-dual invariant formulation of string theory, in this paper a detailed comparison between the non-covariant action proposed by Tseytlin and the covariant one proposed by Hull is done. These are obtained by making both the string coordinates and their duals explicitly appear, on the same footing, in the world-sheet action, so “doubling” the string coordinates along the compact dimensions. After a discussion on the nature of the constraints in both the models and the relative quantization, it results that the string coordinates and their duals behave like “non-commuting” phase space coordinates but their expressions in terms of Fourier modes generate the oscillator algebra of the standard bosonic string. A proof of the equivalence of the two formulations is given. Furthermore, open-string solutions are also discussed.

((F, D1), D3) bound state, S-duality and noncommutative open string/Yang-Mills theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, J.X.; Roy, S.; Singh, H.

2000-01-01

We study decoupling limits and S-dualities for noncommutative open string/Yang-Mills theory in a gravity setup by considering an SL(2,Z) invariant supergravity solution of the form ((F, D1), D3) bound state of type IIB string theory. This configuration can be regarded as D3-branes with both electric and magnetic fields turned on along one of the spatial directions of the brane and preserves half of the space-time supersymmetries of the string theory. Our study indicates that there exists a decoupling limit for which the resulting theory is an open string theory defined in a geometry with noncommutativity in both space-time and space-space directions. We study S-duality of this noncommutative open string (NCOS) and find that the same decoupling limit in the S-dual description gives rise to a space-space noncommutative Yang-Mills theory (NCYM). We also discuss independently the decoupling limit for NCYM in this D3 brane background. Here we find that S-duality of NCYM theory does not always give a NCOS theory. Instead, it can give an ordinary Yang-Mills with a singular metric and an infinitely large coupling. We also find that the open string coupling relation between the two S-duality related theories is modified such that S-duality of a strongly coupled open-string/Yang-Mills theory does not necessarily give a weakly coupled theory. The relevant gravity dual descriptions of NCOS/NCYM are also given. (author)

Open and Closed String field theory interpreted in classical Algebraic Topology

OpenAIRE

Sullivan, Dennis

2003-01-01

There is an interpretation of open string field theory in algebraic topology. An interpretation of closed string field theory can be deduced from this open string theory to obtain as well the interpretation of open and closed string field theory combined.

Lecture notes: string theory and zeta-function

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toppan, Francesco [Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas (CBPF), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). E-mail: toppan@cbpf.br

2001-11-01

These lecture notes are based on a revised and LaTexed version of the Master thesis defended at ISAS. The research part being omitted, they included a review of the bosonic closed string a la Polyakov and of the one-loop background field method of quantisation defined through the zeta-function. In an appendix some basic features of the Riemann zeta-function are also reviewed. The pedagogical aspects of the material here presented are particularly emphasized. These notes are used, together with the Scherk's article in Rev. Mod. Phys. and the first volume of the Polchinski book, for the mini-course on String Theory (16-hours of lectures) held at CBPF. In this course the Green-Schwarz-Witten two-volumes book is also used for consultative purposes. (author)

Hidden gravity in open-string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siegel, W.

1994-01-01

We clarify the nature of the graviton as a bound state in open-string field theory: The flat metric in the action appears as the vacuum value of an open string field. The bound state appears as a composite field in the free field theory

Yang-Mills theory - a string theory in disguise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foerster, D.

1979-01-01

An examination of the Schwinger-Dyson equations of U(N) lattice Yang-Mills theory shows that this theory is exactly equivalent to a theory of strings that interact with one another only through their topology. (Auth.)

Aspects of non-geometry in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patalong, Peter

2013-01-01

This thesis investigates various manifestations of non-geometry in string theory. It utilises different frameworks to study how non-geometry appears in the target space, how non-geometry and non-geometric fluxes are interconnected, how non-geometry can be captured in effective field theories and how a possible extension of the standard string worldsheet model can accommodate non-geometric setups. The first part provides an example that non-geometry can imply non-commutativity of the closed string coordinate fields. Three T-dual frames are investigated, the three-torus with constant H-flux, the twisted torus and the torus with non-geometric flux Q. Under the assumption of dilute flux, a mode expansion and the canonical quantisation are carried out in the second case up to linear order in the flux parameter. T-duality is then used to relate the commutators of the string expansion modes to the coordinate field commutator in the non-geometric third frame. Non-commutativity is found and related to the non-geometric flux Q and the string winding, it therefore appears as an intrinsically string theoretic feature. The second part investigates non-geometry in the context of ten-dimensional effective field theories, i.e. double field theory and supergravity. A field redefinition is implemented that takes the form of a T-duality transformation, it reveals an alternative set of field variables allowing to define non-geometric fluxes Q and R in higher dimensions. The perspective of double field theory provides a geometric interpretation of those by taking into account a new type of covariant winding derivative. The perspective of the ten-dimensional supergravity allows to investigate the interplay between non-geometric field configurations and non-geometric fluxes. For the three-torus example, a well-defined action can be found, and a simple dimensional reduction makes contact to the known four-dimensional potential. It thus proves the correct uplift of Q and R to higher

A Chern-Simons-like action for closed-string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, C.C.

1989-01-01

A Chern-Simons-like action is proposed for closed-string field theory. The action involves auxiliary fields of arbitrary ghost number and is defined in terms of the closed-string operations ∫, Q and *, analogous to those introduced by Witten in the construction of open-string field theory. The action is an extension of one proposed for free closed strings and bears a formal relationship to 2 + 1 gravity analogous to that between open-string field theory and (2 + 1)-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. (author)

Conformal symmetry and string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, A.

1987-01-01

This thesis is devoted to the study of various aspects of the 2-dimensional conformal field theory and its applications to strings. We make a short review of the conformal field theory and its supersymmetric extension, called superconformal field theory. We present an elegant superspace formulation of these theories and solve the condition for the closure of the superconformal algebra. The we go on to classify the superconformal field theories according to these solutions. We prove that N ≥ 5 superconformal algebra, with N being the number of supersymmetries, does not have central charge. We find the primary representations of all the interesting superconformal algebra. We study the quantization of the superconformal theories and derive the constraints on the central charge of the algebra that has to be satisfied for a consistent quantum theory. This quantization process also determines the ground state energy of the system and the spectrum of the model. We study the global aspects of the conformal symmetry and its role in the construction of consistent heterotic string theories. We prove the uniqueness of heterotic superstring theories in 10 dimensions in the fermionic constructions. We show how the vertex operators are closely associated with the primary field representation of the conformal algebra. We utilize these vertex operator constructions to obtain tree amplitudes in the 10-dimensional heterotic string theory. We show by explicit calculation at the 3-point level that the scattering amplitudes derived from the heterotic superstring are same as the ones obtained from 10-dimensional supergravity theories

Open string theory in 1+1 dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bershadsky, M.; Kutasov, D.

1992-01-01

We show that tree level open two dimensional string theory is exactly solvable; the solution exhibits some unusual features, and is qualitatively different from the closed case. The open string 'tachyon' S-matrix describes free fermions, which can be interpreted as the quarks at the ends of the string. These 'quarks' live naturally on a lattice in space-time. We also find an exact vacuum solution of the theory, corresponding to a charged black hole. (orig.)

Introduction to string and superstring theory II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peskin, M.E.

1987-03-01

Conformal field theory is reviewed, then conformal invariance is used to rederive the basic results on the embedding dimensionality for bosonic and fermionic strings. The spectrum of the bosonic and the computation of scattering amplitudes are discussed. The formalism used is extended to clarify the origin of Yang-Mills gauge invariance in the open bosonic string theory. The question of the general-coordinate gauge invariance of string theory is addressed, presenting two disparate viewpoints on this question. A brief introduction is then given of the reduction from the idealized string theory in 10 extended dimensions to more realistic solutions in which all but 4 of these dimensions are compactified. The state of knowledge about the space-time supersymmetry of the superstring from the covariant viewpoint is outlined. An approach for identifying possible 6-dimensional spaces which might represent the form of the compact dimensions is discussed, and the orbifold scheme of compactification is presented. 77 refs., 18 figs

Introduction to string and superstring theory II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peskin, M.E.

1987-03-01

Conformal field theory is reviewed, then conformal invariance is used to rederive the basic results on the embedding dimensionality for bosonic and fermionic strings. The spectrum of the bosonic and the computation of scattering amplitudes are discussed. The formalism used is extended to clarify the origin of Yang-Mills gauge invariance in the open bosonic string theory. The question of the general-coordinate gauge invariance of string theory is addressed, presenting two disparate viewpoints on this question. A brief introduction is then given of the reduction from the idealized string theory in 10 extended dimensions to more realistic solutions in which all but 4 of these dimensions are compactified. The state of knowledge about the space-time supersymmetry of the superstring from the covariant viewpoint is outlined. An approach for identifying possible 6-dimensional spaces which might represent the form of the compact dimensions is discussed, and the orbifold scheme of compactification is presented. 77 refs., 18 figs. (LEW)

General relativity invariance and string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aref'eva, I.Ya.; Volovich, I.V.

1987-04-01

The general covariance principle in the string field theory is considered. The algebraic properties of the string Lie derivative are discussed. The string vielbein and spin connection are introduced and an action invariant under general co-ordinate transformation is proposed. (author). 18 refs

Multiple-Trace Operators and Non-Local String Theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silverstein, Eva M.

2001-01-01

We propose that a novel deformation of string perturbation theory, involving non-local interactions between strings, is required to describe the gravity duals of field theories deformed by multiple-trace operators. The new perturbative expansion involves a new parameter, which is neither the string coupling nor the coefficient of a vertex operator on the worldsheet. We explore some of the properties of this deformation, focusing on a special case where the deformation in the field theory is exactly marginal

Covariant amplitudes in Polyakov string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoyama, H.; Dhar, A.; Namazie, M.A.

1986-01-01

A manifestly Lorentz-covariant and reparametrization-invariant procedure for computing string amplitudes using Polyakov's formulation is described. Both bosonic and superstring theories are dealt with. The computation of string amplitudes is greatly facilitated by this formalism. (orig.)

Discrete field theories and spatial properties of strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klebanov, I.; Susskind, L.

1988-10-01

We use the ground-state wave function in the light-cone gauge to study the spatial properties of fundamental strings. We find that, as the cut-off in the parameter space is removed, the strings are smooth and have a divergent size. Guided by these properties, we consider a large-N lattice gauge theory which has an unstable phase where the size of strings diverges. We show that this phase exactly describes free fundamental strings. The lattice spacing does not have to be taken to zero for this equivalence to hold. Thus, exact rotation and translation invariance is restored in a discrete space. This suggests that the number of fundamental short-distance degrees of freedom in string theory is much smaller than in a conventional field theory. 11 refs., 4 figs

Warped models in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acharya, B.S.; Benini, F.; Valandro, R.

2006-12-01

Warped models, originating with the ideas of Randall and Sundrum, provide a fascinating extension of the standard model with interesting consequences for the LHC. We investigate in detail how string theory realises such models, with emphasis on fermion localisation and the computation of Yukawa couplings. We find, in contrast to the 5d models, that fermions can be localised anywhere in the extra dimension, and that there are new mechanisms to generate exponential hierarchies amongst the Yukawa couplings. We also suggest a way to distinguish these string theory models with data from the LHC. (author)

String creation, D-branes and effective field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hung Lingyan

2008-01-01

This paper addresses several unsettled issues associated with string creation in systems of orthogonal Dp-D(8-p) branes. The interaction between the branes can be understood either from the closed string or open string picture. In the closed string picture it has been noted that the DBI action fails to capture an extra RR exchange between the branes. We demonstrate how this problem persists upon lifting to M-theory. These D-brane systems are analysed in the closed string picture by using gauge-fixed boundary states in a non-standard lightcone gauge, in which RR exchange can be analysed precisely. The missing piece in the DBI action also manifests itself in the open string picture as a mismatch between the Coleman-Weinberg potential obtained from the effective field theory and the corresponding open string calculation. We show that this difference can be reconciled by taking into account the superghosts in the (0+1) effective theory of the chiral fermion, that arises from gauge fixing the spontaneously broken world-line local supersymmetries

An exact bosonization rule for c = 1 noncritical string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishibashi, Nobuyuki; Yamaguchi, Atsushi

2007-01-01

We construct a string field theory for c = 1 noncritical strings using the loop variables as the string field. We show how one can express the nonrelativistic free fermions which describes the theory, in terms of these string fields

Strong/weak coupling duality relations for non-supersymmetric string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blum, J.D.; Dienes, K.R.

1998-01-01

Both the supersymmetric SO(32) and E 8 x E 8 heterotic strings in ten dimensions have known strong-coupling duals. However, it has not been known whether there also exist strong-coupling duals for the non-supersymmetric heterotic strings in ten dimensions. In this paper, we construct explicit open-string duals for the circle compactifications of several of these non-supersymmetric theories, among them the tachyon-free SO(16) x SO(16) string. Our method involves the construction of heterotic and open-string interpolating models that continuously connect non-supersymmetric strings to supersymmetric strings. We find that our non-supersymmetric dual theories have exactly the same massless spectra as their heterotic counterparts within a certain range of our interpolations. We also develop a novel method for analyzing the solitons of non-supersymmetric open-string theories, and find that the solitons of our dual theories also agree with their heterotic counterparts. These are therefore the first known examples of strong/weak coupling duality relations between non-supersymmetric, tachyon-free string theories. Finally, the existence of these strong-coupling duals allows us to examine the non-perturbative stability of these strings, and we propose a phase diagram for the behavior of these strings as a function of coupling and radius. (orig.)

The space-time operator product expansion in string theory duals of field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aharony, Ofer; Komargodski, Zohar

2008-01-01

We study the operator product expansion (OPE) limit of correlation functions in field theories which possess string theory duals, from the point of view of the string worldsheet. We show how the interesting ('single-trace') terms in the OPE of the field theory arise in this limit from the OPE of the worldsheet theory of the string dual, using a dominant saddle point which appears in computations of worldsheet correlation functions in the space-time OPE limit. The worldsheet OPE generically contains only non-physical operators, but all the non-physical contributions are resummed by the saddle point to a contribution similar to that of a physical operator, which exactly matches the field theory expectations. We verify that the OPE limit of the worldsheet theory does not have any other contributions to the OPE limit of space-time correlation functions. Our discussion is completely general and applies to any local field theory (conformal at high energies) that has a weakly coupled string theory dual (with arbitrary curvature). As a first application, we compare our results to a proposal of R. Gopakumar for the string theory dual of free gauge theories

Kac-Moody algebras and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleaver, G.B.

1993-01-01

The focus of this thesis is on (1) the role of Kac-Moody algebras in string theory and the development of techniques for systematically building string theory models based on a higher level (K ≥ 2) KM algebras and (2) fractional superstrings, a new class of solutions based on SU(2) K /U(1) conformal field theories. The content of this thesis is as follows. In chapter two they review KM algebras and their role in string theory. In the next chapter they present two results concerning the construction of modular invariant partition functions for conformal field theories build by tensoring together other conformal field theories. First they show how the possible modular invariants for the tensor product theory are constrained if the allowed modular invariants of the individuals conformal field theory factors have been classified. They illustrate the use of these constraints for theories of the type SU(2) KA direct-product SU(2) KB , finding all consistent theories for K A and K B odd. Second they show how known diagonal modular invariants can be used to construct inherently asymmetric invariants where the holomorphic and anti-holomorphic theories do not share the same chiral algebra. Explicit examples are given. Next, in chapter four they investigate some issues relating to recently proposed fractional superstring theories with D critical K/4 K/4 , as source of spacetime fermions, is demonstrated

Little String Theory at a TeV

CERN Document Server

Antoniadis, Ignatios; Giveon, Amit; Antoniadis, Ignatios; Dimopoulos, Savas; Giveon, Amit

2001-01-01

We propose a framework where the string scale as well as all compact dimensions are at the electroweak scale $\\sim$ TeV$^{-1}$. The weakness of gravity is attributed to the small value of the string coupling $g_s \\sim 10^{-16}$, presumably a remnant of the dilaton's runaway behavior, suggesting the possibility of a common solution to the hierarchy and dilaton-runaway problems. In spite of the small $g_s$, in type II string theories with gauge interactions localized in the vicinity of NS5-branes, the standard model gauge couplings are of order one and are associated with the sizes of compact dimensions. At a TeV these theories exhibit higher dimensional and stringy behavior. The models are holographically dual to a higher dimensional non-critical string theory and this can be used to compute the experimentally accessible spectrum and self-couplings of the little strings. In spite of the stringy behavior, gravity remains weak and can be ignored at collider energies. The Damour-Polyakov mechanism is an automatic...

Classical open-string field theory: A∞-algebra, renormalization group and boundary states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakatsu, Toshio

2002-01-01

We investigate classical bosonic open-string field theory from the perspective of the Wilson renormalization group of world-sheet theory. The microscopic action is identified with Witten's covariant cubic action and the short-distance cut-off scale is introduced by length of open-string strip which appears in the Schwinger representation of open-string propagator. Classical open-string field theory in the title means open-string field theory governed by a classical part of the low energy action. It is obtained by integrating out suitable tree interactions of open-strings and is of non-polynomial type. We study this theory by using the BV formalism. It turns out to be deeply related with deformation theory of A ∞ -algebra. We introduce renormalization group equation of this theory and discuss it from several aspects. It is also discussed that this theory is interpreted as a boundary open-string field theory. Closed-string BRST charge and boundary states of closed-string field theory in the presence of open-string field play important roles

On low rank classical groups in string theory, gauge theory and matrix models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Intriligator, Ken; Kraus, Per; Ryzhov, Anton V.; Shigemori, Masaki; Vafa, Cumrun

2004-01-01

We consider N=1 supersymmetric U(N), SO(N), and Sp(N) gauge theories, with two-index tensor matter and added tree-level superpotential, for general breaking patterns of the gauge group. By considering the string theory realization and geometric transitions, we clarify when glueball superfields should be included and extremized, or rather set to zero; this issue arises for unbroken group factors of low rank. The string theory results, which are equivalent to those of the matrix model, refer to a particular UV completion of the gauge theory, which could differ from conventional gauge theory results by residual instanton effects. Often, however, these effects exhibit miraculous cancellations, and the string theory or matrix model results end up agreeing with standard gauge theory. In particular, these string theory considerations explain and remove some apparent discrepancies between gauge theories and matrix models in the literature

The method of finite-gap integration in classical and semi-classical string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vicedo, Benoit

2011-01-01

In view of proving the AdS/CFT correspondence one day, a deeper understanding of string theory on certain curved backgrounds such as AdS 5 x S 5 is required. In this review we make a step in this direction by focusing on RxS 3 . It was discovered in recent years that string theory on AdS 5 x S 5 admits a Lax formulation. However, the complete statement of integrability requires not only the existence of a Lax formulation but also that the resulting integrals of motion are in pairwise involution. This idea is central to the first part of this review. Exploiting this integrability we apply algebro-geometric methods to string theory on RxS 3 and obtain the general finite-gap solution. The construction is based on an invariant algebraic curve previously found in the AdS 5 x S 5 case. However, encoding the dynamics of the solution requires specification of additional marked points. By restricting the symplectic structure of the string to these algebro-geometric data we derive the action-angle variables of the system. We then perform a first-principle semiclassical quantization of string theory on RxS 3 as a toy model for strings on AdS 5 x S 5 . The result is exactly what one expects from the dual gauge theory perspective, namely the underlying algebraic curve discretizes in a natural way. We also derive a general formula for the fluctuation energies around the generic finite-gap solution. The ideas used can be generalized to AdS 5 x S 5 . (review)

Cosmic strings in a braneworld theory with metastable gravitons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lue, Arthur

2002-01-01

If the graviton possesses an arbitrarily small (but nonvanishing) mass, perturbation theory implies that cosmic strings have a nonzero Newtonian potential. Nevertheless in Einstein gravity, where the graviton is strictly massless, the Newtonian potential of a cosmic string vanishes. This discrepancy is an example of the van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov (VDVZ) discontinuity. We present a solution for the metric around a cosmic string in a braneworld theory with a graviton metastable on the brane. This theory possesses those features that yield a VDVZ discontinuity in massive gravity, but nevertheless is generally covariant and classically self-consistent. Although the cosmic string in this theory supports a nontrivial Newtonian potential far from the source, one can recover the Einstein solution in a region near the cosmic string. That latter region grows as the graviton's effective linewidth vanishes (analogous to a vanishing graviton mass), suggesting the lack of a VDVZ discontinuity in this theory. Moreover, the presence of scale dependent structure in the metric may have consequences for the search for cosmic strings through gravitational lensing techniques

Effective string theory and QCD scattering amplitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makeenko, Yuri

2011-01-01

QCD string is formed at distances larger than the confinement scale and can be described by the Polchinski-Strominger effective string theory with a nonpolynomial action, which has nevertheless a well-defined semiclassical expansion around a long-string ground state. We utilize modern ideas about the Wilson-loop/scattering-amplitude duality to calculate scattering amplitudes and show that the expansion parameter in the effective string theory is small in the Regge kinematical regime. For the amplitudes we obtain the Regge behavior with a linear trajectory of the intercept (d-2)/24 in d dimensions, which is computed semiclassically as a momentum-space Luescher term, and discuss an application to meson scattering amplitudes in QCD.

Anomalies and modular invariance in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schellekens, A.N.; Warner, N.P.

1986-01-01

All known anomaly cancellations of heterotic string theories are derived directly from one-loop modular invariance, and are shown to be related to a property of modular functions of weight 2. Using modular invariance infinite classes of anomaly free field theories are constructed in (8m+2) dimensions for any m. A generating function is obtained for the anomalies of string-related field theories in (8m+2) dimensions. (orig.)

BPS limit of multi- D- and DF-strings in boundary string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Go, Gyungchoon; Ishida, Akira; Kim, Yoonbai

2007-01-01

A BPS limit is systematically derived for straight multi- D- and DF-strings from the D3D-bar3 system in the context of boundary superstring field theory. The BPS limit is obtained in the limit of thin D(F)-strings, where the Bogomolny equation supports singular static multi-D(F)-string solutions. For the BPS multi-string configurations with arbitrary separations, BPS sum rule is fulfilled under a Gaussian type tachyon potential and reproduces exactly the descent relation. For the DF-strings ((p,q)-strings), the distribution of fundamental string charge density coincides with its energy density and the Hamiltonian density takes the BPS formula of square-root form

Spin chain and duality between string theory and gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorskij, A.S.

2005-01-01

One discusses a string pattern hidden by the integrable spin chains describing the evolution equations in the Yang- Mills theory. It is shown that the single-loop correction to the dilatation operator in N = 4 theory may be expressed in terms of two-point correlation functions at two-dimensional world surface of a string. Correspondence between the Neumann integrable systems and the spin chains leads us to believe that passing to the finite values of the coupling constants in the gauge theory corresponds to the quantization of the world surface. The model of string bits for the digitized world surface is assumed to be in line with representation of the integrable spin chains in terms of the separable variables [ru

Defect branes as Alice strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, Takashi; Sakatani, Yuho

2015-01-01

There exist various defect-brane backgrounds in supergravity theories which arise as the low energy limit of string theories. These backgrounds typically have non-trivial monodromies, and if we move a charged probe around the center of a defect, its charge will be changed by the action of the monodromy. During the process, the charge conservation law seems to be violated. In this paper, to resolve this puzzle, we examine a dynamics of the charge changing process and show that the missing charge of the probe is transferred to the background. We then explicitly construct the resultant background after the charge transfer process by utilizing dualities. This background has the same monodromy as the original defect brane, but has an additional charge which does not have any localized source. In the literature, such a charge without localized source is known to appear in the presence of Alice strings. We argue that defect branes can in fact be regarded as a realization of Alice strings in string theory and examine the charge transfer process from that perspective.

Defect branes as Alice strings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okada, Takashi [Theoretical Biology Laboratory, RIKEN,Wako 351-0198 (Japan); Sakatani, Yuho [Department of Physics and Astronomy,Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-03-25

There exist various defect-brane backgrounds in supergravity theories which arise as the low energy limit of string theories. These backgrounds typically have non-trivial monodromies, and if we move a charged probe around the center of a defect, its charge will be changed by the action of the monodromy. During the process, the charge conservation law seems to be violated. In this paper, to resolve this puzzle, we examine a dynamics of the charge changing process and show that the missing charge of the probe is transferred to the background. We then explicitly construct the resultant background after the charge transfer process by utilizing dualities. This background has the same monodromy as the original defect brane, but has an additional charge which does not have any localized source. In the literature, such a charge without localized source is known to appear in the presence of Alice strings. We argue that defect branes can in fact be regarded as a realization of Alice strings in string theory and examine the charge transfer process from that perspective.

Does string theory lead to extended inflation?

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Bruce A.; Linde, Andrei; Olive, Keith A.

1991-05-01

We consider the relationship between string theory and currently proposed models of extended inflation. In doing so, we discuss the conformal actions in string theory and in Jordan-Brans-Dicke gravity. We show explicitly the equivalence of pictures in which either gauge or gravitational couplings are changing with time. We demonstrate that the existence of the dilation in string theory does not naturally lead to extended inflation as currently discussed. We also discuss the resolution of the graceful exit problem of old inflation in Einstein gravity using either power-law inflation, or exponential inflation with a changing bubble formation rate. On leave of absence from School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.

Tensor modes on the string theory landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westphal, Alexander

2012-06-01

We attempt an estimate for the distribution of the tensor mode fraction r over the landscape of vacua in string theory. The dynamics of eternal inflation and quantum tunneling lead to a kind of democracy on the landscape, providing no bias towards large-field or small-field inflation regardless of the class of measure. The tensor mode fraction then follows the number frequency distributions of inflationary mechanisms of string theory over the landscape. We show that an estimate of the relative number frequencies for small-field vs large-field inflation, while unattainable on the whole landscape, may be within reach as a regional answer for warped Calabi-Yau flux compactifications of type IIB string theory.

Tensor modes on the string theory landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westphal, Alexander

2012-06-15

We attempt an estimate for the distribution of the tensor mode fraction r over the landscape of vacua in string theory. The dynamics of eternal inflation and quantum tunneling lead to a kind of democracy on the landscape, providing no bias towards large-field or small-field inflation regardless of the class of measure. The tensor mode fraction then follows the number frequency distributions of inflationary mechanisms of string theory over the landscape. We show that an estimate of the relative number frequencies for small-field vs large-field inflation, while unattainable on the whole landscape, may be within reach as a regional answer for warped Calabi-Yau flux compactifications of type IIB string theory.

String perturbation theory diverges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, D.J.; Periwal, V.

1988-01-01

We prove that perturbation theory for the bosonic string diverges for arbitrary values of the coupling constant and is not Borel summable. This divergence is independent of the existence of the infinities that occur in the theory due to the presence of tachyons and dilaton tadpoles. We discuss the physical implications of such a divergence

Cosmic string in compactified gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, A.; Hirenzaki, S.; Shiraishi, K.

1989-08-01

A solution of the vortex type is given in a six-dimensional SU(2)xU(1) pure gauge theory coupled to Einstein gravity in a compactified background geometry. We construct the solution of an effective Abelian-Higgs model in terms of dimensional reduction. The solution, however, has a peculiarity in its physically relevant quantity, a deficit angle, which is given as a function of the ratio of the gauge couplings of SU(2) and U(1). The size of the extra space (sphere) is shown to vary with the distance from the axis of the 'string'. (author)

Duality invariant class of exact string backgrounds

CERN Document Server

Klimcík, C

1994-01-01

We consider a class of $2+D$ - dimensional string backgrounds with a target space metric having a covariantly constant null Killing vector and flat `transverse' part. The corresponding sigma models are invariant under $D$ abelian isometries and are transformed by $O(D,D)$ duality into models belonging to the same class. The leading-order solutions of the conformal invariance equations (metric, antisymmetric tensor and dilaton), as well as the action of $O(D,D)$ duality transformations on them, are exact, i.e. are not modified by $\\a'$-corrections. This makes a discussion of different space-time representations of the same string solution (related by $O(D,D|Z)$ duality subgroup) rather explicit. We show that the $O(D,D)$ duality may connect curved $2+D$-dimensional backgrounds with solutions having flat metric but, in general, non-trivial antisymmetric tensor and dilaton. We discuss several particular examples including the $2+D=4$ - dimensional background that was recently interpreted in terms of a WZW model.

String theory and pre-big bang cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Gasperini, M.; Veneziano, G.

2016-09-01

In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not necessarily unlikely. In particular, the duality symmetries of string theory suggest scenarios in which the Universe starts inflating from an initial state characterized by very small curvature and interactions. Such a state, being gravitationally unstable, will evolve towards higher curvature and coupling, until string-size effects and loop corrections make the Universe "bounce" into a standard, decreasing-curvature regime. In such a context, the hot big bang of conventional cosmology is replaced by a "hot big bounce" in which the bouncing and heating mechanisms originate from the quantum production of particles in the high-curvature, large-coupling pre-bounce phase. Here we briefly summarize the main features of this inflationary scenario, proposed a quarter century ago. In its simplest version (where it represents an alternative and not a complement to standard slow-roll inflation) it can produce a viable spectrum of density perturbations, together with a tensor component characterized by a "blue" spectral index with a peak in the GHz frequency range. That means, phenomenologically, a very small contribution to a primordial B-mode in the CMB polarization, and the possibility of a large enough stochastic background of gravitational waves to be measurable by present or future gravitational wave detectors.

Chronology protection in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyson, Lisa

2004-01-01

Many solutions of General Relativity appear to allow the possibility of time travel. This was initially a fascinating discovery, but geometries of this type violate causality, a basic physical law which is believed to be fundamental. Although string theory is a proposed fundamental theory of quantum gravity, geometries with closed timelike curves have resurfaced as solutions to its low energy equations of motion. In this paper, we will study the class of solutions to low energy effective supergravity theories related to the BMPV black hole and the rotating wave-D1-D5-brane system. Time travel appears to be possible in these geometries. We will attempt to build the causality violating regions and propose that stringy effects prohibit their construction. The proposed chronology protection agent for these geometries mirrors a mechanism string theory employs to resolve a class of naked singularities. (author)

CP and other gauge symmetries in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dine, M.; Leigh, R.G.; MacIntire, D.A.

1992-01-01

We argue that CP is a gauge symmetry in string theory. As a consequence, CP cannot be explicitly broken either perturbatively or nonperturbatively; there can be no nonperturbative CP-violating parameters. String theory is thus an example of a theory where all θ angles arise due to spontaneous CP violation, and are in principle calculable

Chern-Simons Theory, Matrix Models, and Topological Strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walcher, J

2006-01-01

wish to consult as well some of the by now standard references on the subject), it serves its purpose as a review of the basic definitions and main objectives of that field. Chapter 5 delivers the tools for the construction of a class of Calabi-Yau manifolds as topological string backgrounds, and introduces geometric transitions, which as mentioned above is the preferred way to access gauge / gravity dualities. The third part of the book is the synthesis to the topological gauge/gravity dualities recalled above. Chapter 6 reviews the basic philosophies behind the correspondence between large-N gauge theories and string theory, following 't Hooft, Maldacena, and Gopakumar-Vafa. Chapters 7 and 8 give the heuristic derivation via open topological strings and geometric transitions, and collect the central results checking the dualities in the main examples in both A- and B-model. Applications to the topological vertex, knot invariants, and supersymmetric gauge theories, are covered in the final two chapters of the book. (book review)

Functional determinants in gauge theory and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Della Pietra, V.J.

1988-01-01

Determinants arise whenever Gaussian functional integrals are evaluated. As a result, they are pervasive in physics. In this thesis the author studied, in a mathematically precise fashion, some questions concerning functional determinants in Quantum Field Theory and String Theory. The emphasis is on deriving explicit general identities which can be applied to physical problems. In Chapters 1-3, he studies determinants of families of Weyl operators on compact manifolds. The motivation for this work comes from Chiral Gauge Theory. In a theory containing chiral Fermions coupled to Bosons y, a partial integration in the functional integral over the Fermi fields yields terms involving determinants of Weyl operators ∂y. In Chapter 4 he turns his attention to a problem in String Theory. In the Polyakov formulation of string perturbation theory, the partition function and scattering amplitudes are calculated as sums of contributions from different world sheet topologies. The contribution from surfaces of a particular topology is given by a functional integral, which, after gauge-fixing, can be expressed as an integral of a certain measure over an appropriate moduli space. For an arbitrary finite group acting on a compact manifold, he defines an analytic torsion for the invariant subcomplex of the de Rham complex, generalizing the definition given by Ray and Singer in the absence of a group action. Motivated by the work of Quillen, he uses this torsion to define a natural norm on the determinant line of the invariant cohomology

Open membranes in a constant C-field background and noncommutative boundary strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamoto, Shoichi; Sasakura, Naoki

2000-01-01

We investigate the dynamics of open membrane boundaries in a constant C-field background. We follow the analysis for open strings in a B-field background, and take some approximations. We find that open membrane boundaries do show noncommutativity in this case by explicit calculations. Membrane boundaries are one dimensional strings, so we face a new type of noncommutativity, that is, noncommutative strings. (author)

Light-like big bang singularities in string and matrix theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craps, Ben; Evnin, Oleg

2011-01-01

Important open questions in cosmology require a better understanding of the big bang singularity. In string and matrix theories, light-like analogues of cosmological singularities (singular plane wave backgrounds) turn out to be particularly tractable. We give a status report on the current understanding of such light-like big bang models, presenting both solved and open problems.

Deconfinement and the Hagedorn transition in string theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, S

2001-03-05

We introduce a new definition of the thermal partition function in string theory. With this new definition, the thermal partition functions of all of the string theories obey thermal duality relations with self-dual Hagedorn temperature beta(2)(H) = 4pi(2)alpha('). A beta-->beta(2)(H)/beta transformation maps the type I theory into a new string theory (type I) with thermal D p-branes, spatial hypersurfaces supporting a p-dimensional finite temperature non-Abelian Higgs-gauge theory for p< or =9. We demonstrate a continuous phase transition in the behavior of the static heavy quark-antiquark potential for small separations r(2)(*)

The effective supergravity of little string theory

Science.gov (United States)

Antoniadis, Ignatios; Delgado, Antonio; Markou, Chrysoula; Pokorski, Stefan

2018-02-01

In this work we present the minimal supersymmetric extension of the five-dimensional dilaton-gravity theory that captures the main properties of the holographic dual of little string theory. It is described by a particular gauging of N=2 supergravity coupled with one vector multiplet associated with the string dilaton, along the U(1) subgroup of SU(2) R-symmetry. The linear dilaton in the fifth coordinate solution of the equations of motion (with flat string frame metric) breaks half of the supersymmetries to N=1 in four dimensions. Interest in the linear dilaton model has lately been revived in the context of the clockwork mechanism, which has recently been proposed as a new source of exponential scale separation in field theory.

The effective supergravity of little string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antoniadis, Ignatios [Sorbonne Universite, CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Hautes Energies, LPTHE, Paris (France); University of Bern, Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Bern (Switzerland); Delgado, Antonio [University of Notre Dame, Department of Physics, Notre Dame, IN (United States); Markou, Chrysoula [Sorbonne Universite, CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Hautes Energies, LPTHE, Paris (France); Pokorski, Stefan [University of Warsaw, Faculty of Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Warsaw (Poland)

2018-02-15

In this work we present the minimal supersymmetric extension of the five-dimensional dilaton-gravity theory that captures the main properties of the holographic dual of little string theory. It is described by a particular gauging of N = 2 supergravity coupled with one vector multiplet associated with the string dilaton, along the U(1) subgroup of SU(2) R-symmetry. The linear dilaton in the fifth coordinate solution of the equations of motion (with flat string frame metric) breaks half of the supersymmetries to N = 1 in four dimensions. Interest in the linear dilaton model has lately been revived in the context of the clockwork mechanism, which has recently been proposed as a new source of exponential scale separation in field theory. (orig.)

Some global issues in string perturbation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atick, J.J.; Moore, G.; Sen, Ashoke

1988-01-01

Calculations of type II string vacuum amplitude using the picture changing prescription have been shown to lead, in general, to a positive cosmological constant. We show that there is a global obstruction to the choices of gauge slice for super-Teichmueller space that lead to such measures. We discuss the general restrictions on gauge slices appropriate for use in explicit fermionic string calculations. We also discuss the relation of the functional determinant and conformal field theory versions of the path integral measure, and show that, at arbitrary genus and in arbitrary backgrounds preserving tree level N=1 supersymmetry, the measure is an exact differential. We evaluate the boundary integrals of this total derivative at genus two in two ways for target space R 10 to show that the integrals are zero. Finally, we use the factorization hypothesis to show that in appropriate compactified spacetimes the boundary integrals continue to vanish. (orig.)

Cosmology in Gauge Field Theory and String Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia Compean, H

2005-01-01

This new book is intended for students and researchers who want to go into the interplay between cosmology and high-energy physics. It assumes a prior knowledge of these subjects such as some of the topics contained in the previous books by the authors, Introduction to Gauge Field Theory (1993 Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing) and Supersymmetric Gauge Field Theory and String Theory (1994 Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing). However, the book is intended to be self-contained, explaining, from a modern perspective, some background material mainly in standard cosmology, topological defects, baryogenesis, inflationary cosmology and, at the end of the book, some of the basics of string theory. What is distinctively new about this book is that it lies in the interplay between cosmology and high-energy physics typically above 100 GeV (10 15 K). Often these subjects are presented in regular textbooks in a disconnected way, or in research papers, proceedings and review papers but usually not in a pedagogical style. Thus, in this sense, the book is unique and deserves a special place in the recent literature. The book starts by reviewing the standard material of the early universe. The standard model of cosmology from a modern perspective is revised in chapter 1. In chapter 2, phase transitions in different models are discussed, Higgs, electroweak, GUTs, supersymmetric GUTs and supergravity, by using quantum field theory at finite temperature. Chapter 3 is devoted to a general account of topological defects and discusses how they arise as possible remnants of these phase transitions in GUTs. Other relics, such as neutrinos and axions, are introduced in chapter 5 and their impact in cosmology is assessed. In chapter 4, some of the most relevant mechanisms of baryogenesis are discussed in the context of the different GUTs and the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). Inflation is also discussed in the context of GUTs. In chapter 6, the authors introduce

The universal wave function interpretation of string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gang, Dr. Sha Zhi; Xiu, Rulin

2016-01-01

In this work, we will show that a deeper understanding of space-time provided by both quantum physics and general relativity can lead to a new way to understand string theory. This new way of understanding and applying string theory, the universal wave function interpretation of string theory (UWFIST), may yield to a more powerful string theory and testable prediction. We will show how to derive UWFIST and what new result we can obtain from UWFIST. We will demonstrate that UWFIST indicates that the observed space-time and all phenomena are the projections from the world-sheet hologram. UWFIST provides the possible source for dark energy and dark matter and the explanation about why the dark energy and dark matter is beyond the detection of our current detector. We will show that UWFIST may also yield correct prediction of the cosmological constant to be of the order 10-121 in the unit of Planck scale. It may also help us understand and derive the energy source for inflation and the flatness of our observed 4-dimensional universe. UWFIST may also make other testable predictions that may be detected by interferometers. We conclude that UWFIST has the potential to make string theory a more powerful physics theory that can yield testable predictions. It is worth further investigation by more physicists

Collisions of cosmic F- and D-strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, N.

2004-01-01

Recent theoretical advances and upcoming experimental measurements make the testing of generic predictions of string theory models of cosmology feasible. Brane anti-brane models of inflation within superstring theory are promising as string theory descriptions of the physics of the early universe. While varied in their construction, these models can have the generic and observable consequence that cosmic strings will be abundant in the early universe. This leads to possible detectable effects in the cosmic microwave background, gravitational wave physics and gravitational lensing. Detailed calculations of cosmic string interactions within string theory are presented, in order to distinguish these cosmic strings from those in more conventional theories; these interaction probabilities can be very different from conventional 4-dimension strings, providing the possibility of experimental tests of string theory. (authors)

Little string theory from double-scaling limits of field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ling, Henry; Shieh, H.-H.; Anders, Greg van

2007-01-01

We show that little string theory on S 5 can be obtained as double-scaling limits of the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories on R x S 2 and R x S 3 /Z k . By matching the gauge theory parameters with those in the dual supergravity solutions found by Lin and Maldacena, we determine the limits in the gauge theories that correspond to decoupling of NS5-brane degrees of freedom. We find that for the theory on R x S 2 , the 't Hooft coupling must be scaled like ln 3 N, and on R x S 3 /Z k , like ln 2 N. Accordingly, taking these limits in these field theories gives Lagrangian definitions of little string theory on S 5

On multibrane solutions in open string field theory

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Murata, Masaki; Schnabl, Martin

2011-01-01

Roč. 2011, č. 188 (2011), s. 50-55 ISSN 0375-9687. [International Conference on String Field Theory and Related Aspects (SFT2010). Kyoto, 18.10.2010-22.10.2010] Grant - others:EUROHORC and ESF(XE) EYI/07/E010 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100502 Keywords : string field theory * D-branes * open strings Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 1.063, year: 2011 http://ptp.ipap.jp/link?PTPS/188/50/

Supertwistor orbifolds: gauge theory amplitudes and topological strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jaemo; Rey, Soojong

2004-01-01

Witten established correspondence between multiparton amplitudes in four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric gauge theory and topological string theory on supertwistor space CP 3verticalbar4 . We extend Witten's correspondence to gauge theories with lower supersymmetries, product gauge groups, and fermions and scalars in complex representations. Such gauge theories arise in high-energy limit of the Standard Model of strong and electroweak interactions. We construct such theories by orbifolding prescription. Much like gauge and string theories, such prescription is applicable equally well to topological string theories on supertwistor space. We work out several examples of orbifolds of CP 3verticalbar4 that are dual to N=2,1,0 quiver gauge theories. We study gauged sigma model describing topological B-model on the superorbifolds, and explore mirror pairs with particular attention to the parity symmetry. We check the orbifold construction by studying multiparton amplitudes in these theories with particular attention to those involving fermions in bifundamental representations and interactions involving U(1) subgroups. (author)

Kac-Moody Eisenstein series in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fleig, Philipp

2013-12-19

Understanding nature on its very smallest 'physical-length' scale has always been a central goal of physics. Theoretical investigations into this problem over the last fifty years or so were largely driven by the aim of reconciling the theory of general relativity, the theory which describes the fundamental force of gravity and therefore the dynamics of space-time, with the theory of quantum mechanics, which dominates the physical phenomena on very small (sub-atomic) scales, within one big framework, referred to as the theory of quantum gravity. One candidate for such a theory is string theory. The fundamental assumption of this theory is that the smallest constituents of nature are not given by point particles, but rather by one dimensional strings the size of the Planck length. Through their different vibrational modes, strings are thought to produce the different properties of the observed spectrum of particles in nature. With this basic idea, string theory is not only predicted to describe the gravitational force, but also all other known forces of nature, and therefore extends far beyond the concept of only being a theory of quantised gravity. Since its initial proposal, the theory has developed into a vast and complex mathematical web of different theories, which all seem to be part of a larger, all-encompassing theory. Key to understanding the complicated mathematical structure of this theory is the concept of symmetries. Such symmetries, which are also known as duality relations, for instance manifest themselves in special mathematical functions, contained in the amplitudes that capture information about the interaction processes of strings with one another. A particularly relevant example of such a function is given by the so-called Eisenstein series, which display invariance under certain discrete duality groups. The central goal of this thesis is to study the properties of Eisenstein series invariant under special, particularly large (in fact

Kac-Moody Eisenstein series in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleig, Philipp

2013-01-01

Understanding nature on its very smallest 'physical-length' scale has always been a central goal of physics. Theoretical investigations into this problem over the last fifty years or so were largely driven by the aim of reconciling the theory of general relativity, the theory which describes the fundamental force of gravity and therefore the dynamics of space-time, with the theory of quantum mechanics, which dominates the physical phenomena on very small (sub-atomic) scales, within one big framework, referred to as the theory of quantum gravity. One candidate for such a theory is string theory. The fundamental assumption of this theory is that the smallest constituents of nature are not given by point particles, but rather by one dimensional strings the size of the Planck length. Through their different vibrational modes, strings are thought to produce the different properties of the observed spectrum of particles in nature. With this basic idea, string theory is not only predicted to describe the gravitational force, but also all other known forces of nature, and therefore extends far beyond the concept of only being a theory of quantised gravity. Since its initial proposal, the theory has developed into a vast and complex mathematical web of different theories, which all seem to be part of a larger, all-encompassing theory. Key to understanding the complicated mathematical structure of this theory is the concept of symmetries. Such symmetries, which are also known as duality relations, for instance manifest themselves in special mathematical functions, contained in the amplitudes that capture information about the interaction processes of strings with one another. A particularly relevant example of such a function is given by the so-called Eisenstein series, which display invariance under certain discrete duality groups. The central goal of this thesis is to study the properties of Eisenstein series invariant under special, particularly large (in fact infinite

Fitting cosmic microwave background data with cosmic strings and inflation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bevis, Neil; Hindmarsh, Mark; Kunz, Martin; Urrestilla, Jon

2008-01-18

We perform a multiparameter likelihood analysis to compare measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra with predictions from models involving cosmic strings. Adding strings to the standard case of a primordial spectrum with power-law tilt ns, we find a 2sigma detection of strings: f10=0.11+/-0.05, where f10 is the fractional contribution made by strings in the temperature power spectrum (at l=10). CMB data give moderate preference to the model ns=1 with cosmic strings over the standard zero-strings model with variable tilt. When additional non-CMB data are incorporated, the two models become on a par. With variable ns and these extra data, we find that f10<0.11, which corresponds to Gmicro<0.7x10(-6) (where micro is the string tension and G is the gravitational constant).

Universal moduli space and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarz, A.S.

1989-09-01

The construction of the universal supermoduli space is given. The super-Mumford form (the holomorphic square root from the string measure) is extended to the universal supermoduli space and expressed through the superanalog of Sato's τ-function. The hidden N=2 superconformal symmetry in the string theory is considered. (author). 13 refs

Cosmic strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, D.P.

1988-07-01

Cosmic strings are linear topological defects that are predicted by some grand unified theories to form during a spontaneous symmetry breaking phase transition in the early universe. They are the basis for the only theories of galaxy formation aside from quantum fluctuations from inflation that are based on fundamental physics. In contrast to inflation, they can also be observed directly through gravitational lensing and their characteristic microwave background anistropy. It has recently been discovered by F. Bouchet and myself that details of cosmic string evolution are very different from the so-called ''standard model'' that has been assumed in most of the string induced galaxy formation calculations. Therefore, the details of galaxy formation in the cosmic string models are currently very uncertain. 29 refs., 9 figs

String field theory-inspired algebraic structures in gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeitlin, Anton M.

2009-01-01

We consider gauge theories in a string field theory-inspired formalism. The constructed algebraic operations lead, in particular, to homotopy algebras of the related Batalin-Vilkovisky theories. We discuss an invariant description of the gauge fixing procedure and special algebraic features of gauge theories coupled to matter fields.

String tensions in deformed Yang-Mills theory

Science.gov (United States)

Poppitz, Erich; Shalchian T., M. Erfan

2018-01-01

We study k-strings in deformed Yang-Mills (dYM) with SU(N) gauge group in the semiclassically calculable regime on R^3× S^1 . Their tensions Tk are computed in two ways: numerically, for 2 ≤ N ≤ 10, and via an analytic approach using a re-summed perturbative expansion. The latter serves both as a consistency check on the numerical results and as a tool to analytically study the large-N limit. We find that dYM k-string ratios Tk/T1 do not obey the well-known sine- or Casimir-scaling laws. Instead, we show that the ratios Tk/T1 are bound above by a square root of Casimir scaling, previously found to hold for stringlike solutions of the MIT Bag Model. The reason behind this similarity is that dYM dynamically realizes, in a theoretically controlled setting, the main model assumptions of the Bag Model. We also compare confining strings in dYM and in other four-dimensional theories with abelian confinement, notably Seiberg-Witten theory, and show that the unbroken Z_N center symmetry in dYM leads to different properties of k-strings in the two theories; for example, a "baryon vertex" exists in dYM but not in softly-broken Seiberg-Witten theory. Our results also indicate that, at large values of N, k-strings in dYM do not become free.

Towards a world-sheet description of doubled geometry in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bakas, Ioannis [Department of Physics, School of Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences, National Technical University, Athens (Greece); Luest, Dieter [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Muenchen (Germany); Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center fuer Theoretische Physik, Department fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Plauschinn, Erik [Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center fuer Theoretische Physik, Department fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany)

2016-10-15

Starting from a sigma-model for a doubled target-space geometry, we show that the number of target-space dimensions can be reduced by half through a gauging procedure. We apply this formalism to a class of backgrounds relevant for double field theory, and illustrate how choosing different gaugings leads to string-theory configurations T-dual to each other. We furthermore discuss that given a conformal doubled theory, the reduced theories are conformal as well. As an example we consider the three-dimensional SU(2) WZW model and show that the only possible reduced backgrounds are the cigar and trumpet CFTs in two dimensions, which are indeed T-dual to each other. (copyright 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Higher-dimensional string theory in Lyra geometry

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cosmic strings as source of gravitational field in general relativity was discussed by ... tensor theory of gravitation and constructed an analog of Einstein field ... As string concept is useful before the particle creation and can explain galaxy for-.

Born reciprocity in string theory and the nature of spacetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freidel, Laurent, E-mail: lfreidel@perimeterinstitute.ca [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline St., N, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Waterloo (Canada); Leigh, Robert G., E-mail: rgleigh@uiuc.edu [Department of Physics, University of Illinois, 1110 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Minic, Djordje, E-mail: dminic@vt.edu [Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States)

2014-03-07

After many years, the deep nature of spacetime in string theory remains an enigma. In this Letter we incorporate the concept of Born reciprocity in order to provide a new point of view on string theory in which spacetime is a derived dynamical concept. This viewpoint may be thought of as a dynamical chiral phase space formulation of string theory, in which Born reciprocity is implemented as a choice of a Lagrangian submanifold of the phase space, and amounts to a generalization of T-duality. In this approach the fundamental symmetry of string theory contains phase space diffeomorphism invariance and the underlying string geometry should be understood in terms of dynamical bi-Lagrangian manifolds and an apparently new geometric structure, somewhat reminiscent of para-quaternionic geometry, which we call Born geometry.

Born reciprocity in string theory and the nature of spacetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freidel, Laurent; Leigh, Robert G.; Minic, Djordje

2014-01-01

After many years, the deep nature of spacetime in string theory remains an enigma. In this Letter we incorporate the concept of Born reciprocity in order to provide a new point of view on string theory in which spacetime is a derived dynamical concept. This viewpoint may be thought of as a dynamical chiral phase space formulation of string theory, in which Born reciprocity is implemented as a choice of a Lagrangian submanifold of the phase space, and amounts to a generalization of T-duality. In this approach the fundamental symmetry of string theory contains phase space diffeomorphism invariance and the underlying string geometry should be understood in terms of dynamical bi-Lagrangian manifolds and an apparently new geometric structure, somewhat reminiscent of para-quaternionic geometry, which we call Born geometry.

Introduction to bosonic string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nunez, Carmen [Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio, Buenos Aires (Argentina)], e-mail: carmen@iafe.uba.ar

2009-07-01

This is an introductory set of five lectures on bosonic string theory. The first one deals with the classical theory of bosonic strings. The second and third lectures cover quantization. Three basic quantization methods are sketched: the old covariant formalism, the light-cone gauge quantization, where the spectrum is derived and the Polyakov path integral formalism and in particular the partition function at one loop. Finally, the last lecture covers interactions, low energy effective action, the general idea of compactification and in particular toroidal compactification. The notes are based on books by Green, Schwarz and Witten, Polchinski, Lust and Theissen and Kaku and review papers by D'Hocker and Phong and O. Alvarez. (author)

Perturbative string theory in BRST invariant formalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Vecchia, P.; Hornfeck, K.; Frau, M.; Lerda, A.

1988-01-01

In this talk we present a constructive and very explicit way of calculating multiloop amplitudes in string theories. The main ingredients are the BRST invariant N String Vertex and the BRST invariant twisted propagator. This approach naturally leads to the Schottky parametrization of moduli space in terms of multipliers and fixed points of the g projective transformations which characterize a Riemann surface of genus g. The complete expression (including measure) of the multiloop corrections to the N String Vertex for the bosonic string is exhibited. (orig.)

Introduction to string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randjbar-Daemi, S.; Strathdee, J.

1987-10-01

These notes are based on a set of six introductory lectures given jointly by the authors. After developing the canonical methods we discuss the covariant quantization of the bosonic as well as the fermionic string. Conformal field theory methods are also introduced and used to calculate the anomaly coefficient, c, as well as the critical dimensions for bosonic and superstrings. We briefly sketch the BRS quantization and then offer an elementary derivation of the anomaly in the ghost number current. Finally, we address the one-loop partition function of the bosonic string and the question of SL(2,Z) invariance. (author). 15 refs

String Theory Methods for Condensed Matter Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Nastase, Horatiu

2017-09-01

Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part I. Condensed Matter Models and Problems: 1. Lightning review of statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, phases and phase transitions; 2. Magnetism in solids; 3. Electrons in solids: Fermi gas vs. Fermi liquid; 4. Bosonic quasi-particles: phonons and plasmons; 5. Spin-charge separation in 1+1 dimensional solids: spinons and holons; 6. The Ising model and the Heisenberg spin chain; 7. Spin chains and integrable systems; 8. The thermodynamic Bethe ansatz; 9. Conformal field theories and quantum phase transitions; 10. Classical vs. quantum Hall effect; 11. Superconductivity: Landau-Ginzburg, London and BCS; 12. Topology and statistics: Berry and Chern-Simons, anyons and nonabelions; 13. Insulators; 14. The Kondo effect and the Kondo problem; 15. Hydrodynamics and transport properties: from Boltzmann to Navier-Stokes; Part II. Elements of General Relativity and String Theory: 16. The Einstein equation and the Schwarzschild solution; 17. The Reissner-Nordstrom and Kerr-Newman solutions and thermodynamic properties of black holes; 18. Extra dimensions and Kaluza-Klein; 19. Electromagnetism and gravity in various dimensions. Consistent truncations; 20. Gravity plus matter: black holes and p-branes in various dimensions; 21. Weak/strong coupling dualities in 1+1, 2+1, 3+1 and d+1 dimensions; 22. The relativistic point particle and the relativistic string; 23. Lightcone strings and quantization; 24. D-branes and gauge fields; 25. Electromagnetic fields on D-branes. Supersymmetry and N = 4 SYM. T-duality of closed strings; 26. Dualities and M theory; 27. The AdS/CFT correspondence: definition and motivation; Part III. Applying String Theory to Condensed Matter Problems: 28. The pp wave correspondence: string Hamiltonian from N = 4 SYM; 29. Spin chains from N = 4 SYM; 30. The Bethe ansatz: Bethe strings from classical strings in AdS; 31. Integrability and AdS/CFT; 32. AdS/CFT phenomenology: Lifshitz, Galilean and Schrodinger

A note on flux induced superpotentials in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, Melanie [Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111 (United States)]. E-mail: melanieb@physics.umd.edu; Constantin, Dragos [Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111 (United States)

2003-08-01

Non-vanishing fluxes in M-theory and string theory compactifications induce a superpotential in the lower dimensional theory. Gukov has conjectured the explicit form of this superpotential. We check this conjecture for the heterotic string compactified on a Calabi-Yau three-fold as well as for warped M-theory compactifications on Spin(7) holonomy manifolds, by performing a Kaluza-Klein reduction. (author)

A note on flux induced superpotentials in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Melanie; Constantin, Dragos

2003-01-01

Non-vanishing fluxes in M-theory and string theory compactifications induce a superpotential in the lower dimensional theory. Gukov has conjectured the explicit form of this superpotential. We check this conjecture for the heterotic string compactified on a Calabi-Yau three-fold as well as for warped M-theory compactifications on Spin(7) holonomy manifolds, by performing a Kaluza-Klein reduction. (author)

Anatomy of zero-norm states in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, C.-T.; Lee, J.-C.; Yi Yang

2005-01-01

We calculate and identify the counterparts of zero-norm states in the old covariant first quantized (OCFQ) spectrum of open bosonic string in two other quantization schemes of string theory, namely, the light-cone Del Giudice-Di Vecchia-Fubine zero-norm states and the off-shell Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) zero-norm states (with ghost) in the Witten string field theory (WSFT). In particular, special attention is paid to the interparticle zero-norm states in all quantization schemes. For the case of the off-shell BRST zero-norm states, we impose the no-ghost conditions and recover exactly two types of on-shell zero-norm states in the OCFQ string spectrum for the first few low-lying mass levels. We then show that off-shell gauge transformations of WSFT are identical to the on-shell stringy gauge symmetries generated by two types of zero-norm states in the generalized massive σ-model approach of string theory. The high-energy limit of these stringy gauge symmetries was recently used to calculate the proportionality constants, conjectured by Gross, among high-energy scattering amplitudes of different string states. Based on these zero-norm state calculations, we have thus related gauge symmetry of WSFT to the high-energy stringy symmetry of Gross

Nuclear force from string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashimoto, Koji; Sakai, Tadakatsu; Sugimoto, Shigeki

2009-01-01

We compute the nuclear force in a holographic model of QCD on the basis of a D4-D8 brane configuration in type IIA string theory. The repulsive core of nucleons is important in nuclear physics, but its origin has not been well understood in strongly coupled QCD. We find that the string theory via gauge/string duality deduces this repulsive core at a short distance between nucleons. Since baryons in the model are realized as solitons given by Yang-Mills instanton configuration on flavor D8-branes, ADHM construction of two instantons probes well the nucleon interaction at short scale, which provides the nuclear force quantitatively. We obtain a central force, as well as a tensor force, which is strongly repulsive as suggested in experiments and lattice results. In particular, the nucleon-nucleon potential V(r) (as a function of the distance) scales as r -2 , which is peculiar to the holographic model. We compare our results with the one-boson exchange model using the nucleon-nucleon-meson coupling obtained in our previous paper. (author)

Pre-geometrical field theory of the open string

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, M.M.; Nojiri, Shin'ichi

1988-01-01

We propose a gauge invariant, background independent string action, which contains open and closed string fields and no kinetic terms. The kinetic term is generated through the condensation of the string fields, which is the solution of the equations of motion. We solve the equations and show that the action is classically equivalent to the open string action proposed by Hata et al. (orig.)

Geometrical theory of the relativistic string in t=tau gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbashov, B.M.; Nesterenko, V.V.

1982-01-01

Using the co-moving frame method and the exterior differential forms in the surface theory the classical theory of the relativistic string in the gauge is constructed. The moving frame on the string world-sheet is chosen in a special form. As a result, the theory of the free relativistic string in the four-dimensional space-time is reduced to the D'Alembert equation for one scalar function

Solving the open bosonic string in perturbation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samuel, S.

1990-01-01

The integrand and integration region for the N-point amplitude in the open oriented bosonic string are obtained to all orders in perturbation theory. The result is derived from the Witten covariant string field theory by using on-shell and off-shell conformal methods and Riemann surface mathematics. Although only the off-shell g-loop tachyon amplitudes are computed explicitly, the methods generalize to other external states. We derive the g-loop ghost-Jacobi identity in which the ghost correlation function cancels the jacobian factor in changing from second-quantized to first-quantized variables. Moduli space is discussed from several viewpoints and it is shown that string field theory provides an algorithm for its determination. (orig.)

The Rise and Fall of the Cosmic String Theory for Cosmological Perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perivolaropoulos, L.

2005-01-01

The cosmic string theory for cosmological fluctuations is a good example of healthy scientific progress in cosmology. It is a well defined physically motivated model that has been tested by cosmological observations and has been ruled out as a primary source of primordial fluctuations. Until about fifteen years ago, the cosmic string theory of cosmological perturbations provided one of the two physically motivated candidate theories for the generation of primordial perturbations. The cosmological data that appeared during the last decade have been compared with the well defined predictions of the theory and have ruled out cosmic strings as a primary source of primordial cosmological perturbations. Since cosmic strings are predicted to form after inflation in a wide range of microphysical theories (including supersymmetric and fundamental string theories) their observational bounds may serve a source of serious constraints for these theories. This is a pedagogical review of the historical development, the main predictions of the cosmic string theory and the constraints that have been imposed on it by cosmological observations. Recent lensing events that could be attributed to lighter cosmic strings are also discussed

Towards a Theory of the QCD String

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2017-01-01

I will review recent progress in understanding the dynamics of confining strings in non-supersymmetric gluodynamics in 3 and 4 space time dimensions. I will argue that the present lattice data allows to formulate a non-trivial straw man Ansatz for the worldsheet theory of long confining strings. According to this Ansatz, pure gluodynamics in 3D is described by a non-critical bosonic string theory without any extra local worldsheet degrees of freedom. I argue that the Ansatz allows to fix quantum numbers of (almost) all glueball states. I confront the resulting predictions with the properties of approximately 39 lightest glueball states observed on a lattice and find a good agreement.

An equivalence between momentum and charge in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horne, J.H.; Horowitz, G.T.; Steif, A.R.

1992-01-01

It is shown that for a translationally invariant solution to string theory, spacetime duality interchanges the momentum in the symmetry direction and the axion charge per unit length. As one application, we show explicitly that charged black strings are equivalent to boosted (uncharged) black strings. The extremal black strings (which correspond to the field outside of a fundamental macroscopic string) are equivalent to plane-fronted waves describing strings moving at the speed of light

String tensions for lattice gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambjoern, J.; Hey, A.J.G.; Otto, S.

1982-01-01

Compact U(1) and SU(2) lattice gauge theories in 3 euclidean dimensions are studied by standard Monte Carlo techniques. The question of extracting reliable string tensions from these theories is examined in detail, including a comparison of the Monte Carlo Wilson loop data with weak coupling predictions and a careful error analysis: our conclusions are rather different from those of previous investigations of these theories. In the case of U(1) theory, we find that only a tiny range of β values can possibly be relevant for extracting a string tension and we are unable to convincingly demonstrate the expected exponential dependence of the string tension on β. For the SU(2) theory we are able to determine, albeit with rather large errors, a string tension from a study of Wilson loops. (orig.)

The operator formalism and contact terms in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doyle, M.D.

1992-01-01

The operator formalism has proven to be a powerful tool in string theory. In particular, by making explicit the role of a choice of local coordinates (or, equivalently, a normal-ordering prescription) at vertex operator insertions, it provides a framework for understanding the insertion of very general states in both on-shell string theory and string field theory, for formulating a semirigid N = 2 geometry-based approach to topological gravity, for resolving ambiguities in fermionic string theory, and for analyzing contact interactions. The main focus of this thesis on this last application of the operator formalism, although it touches on each of the others. The first goal is the analysis of the dilaton contact terms required for the dilaton equation in the bosonic and heterotic strings. In the bosonic case, a coordinate family appropriate for a punctured sphere is given and is used to calculate dilaton two-point functions. This coordinate family is later generalized to a 'good' coordinate family appropriate for dilaton calculations on higher genus surfaces. It is found that dilaton-dilaton contact terms are improperly normalized resulting in the failure of the dilaton equation, suggesting that the zero-momentum dilaton is not the string coupling constant. This seems to be the result of a tachyon divergence. A similar calculation in the heterotic case, where there is no tachyon, shows that the dilaton contact terms are properly normalized, and that the dilaton equation and the interpretation of the dilaton as the string coupling constant goes through. The other major goal is re-examination of Green and Seiberg's work which showed that, in simple treatments of fermionic string theory, it is necessary to introduce contact interactions when vertex operators collide to avoid the failure of certain superconformal Ward identities

Regge behavior saves string theory from causality violations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

di Vecchia, Paolo; Giuseppe, D'Appollonio; Russo, Rodolfo

2015-01-01

Higher-derivative corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action are present in bosonic string theory leading to the potential causality violations recently pointed out by Camanho et al. [1]. We analyze in detail this question by considering high-energy string-brane collisions at impact parameters b....... Such violations are instead neatly avoided when the full structure of string theory — and in particular its Regge behavior — is taken into account....... ≤ l s (the string-length parameter) with l s ≫ R p (the characteristic scale of the Dp-brane geometry). If we keep only the contribution of the massless states causality is violated for a set of initial states whose polarization is suitably chosen with respect to the impact parameter vector...

Topological insulators and superconductors from string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryu, Shinsei; Takayanagi, Tadashi

2010-01-01

Topological insulators and superconductors in different spatial dimensions and with different discrete symmetries have been fully classified recently, revealing a periodic structure for the pattern of possible types of topological insulators and superconductors, both in terms of spatial dimensions and in terms of symmetry classes. It was proposed that K theory is behind the periodicity. On the other hand, D-branes, a solitonic object in string theory, are also known to be classified by K theory. In this paper, by inspecting low-energy effective field theories realized by two parallel D-branes, we establish a one-to-one correspondence between the K-theory classification of topological insulators/superconductors and D-brane charges. In addition, the string theory realization of topological insulators and superconductors comes naturally with gauge interactions, and the Wess-Zumino term of the D-branes gives rise to a gauge field theory of topological nature, such as ones with the Chern-Simons term or the θ term in various dimensions. This sheds light on topological insulators and superconductors beyond noninteracting systems, and the underlying topological field theory description thereof. In particular, our string theory realization includes the honeycomb lattice Kitaev model in two spatial dimensions, and its higher-dimensional extensions. Increasing the number of D-branes naturally leads to a realization of topological insulators and superconductors in terms of holography (AdS/CFT).

Topological defects in open string field theory

Science.gov (United States)

Kojita, Toshiko; Maccaferri, Carlo; Masuda, Toru; Schnabl, Martin

2018-04-01

We show how conformal field theory topological defects can relate solutions of open string field theory for different boundary conditions. To this end we generalize the results of Graham and Watts to include the action of defects on boundary condition changing fields. Special care is devoted to the general case when nontrivial multiplicities arise upon defect action. Surprisingly the fusion algebra of defects is realized on open string fields only up to a (star algebra) isomorphism.

Introductory lectures on conformal field theory and strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randjbar-Daemi, S.; Strathdee, J.

1990-01-01

The aim of these lectures is to provide an introduction to a first quantized formulation of string theory. This amounts to developing a consistent set of prescriptions for the perturbative computation of on-shell string amplitudes. The principal tool in this development is 2-dimensional conformal field theory on oriented manifolds of finite genus without boundaries (we treat only closed strings). This class of theory is much simpler than 4-dimensional quantum gravity with which it has many similarities. The geometry is not dynamical in this case, and the matter fields are not sensitive to local features of the geometry but only to global properties which can be characterized by a finite set of parameters (moduli). This can be formulated as field theory on a Riemann surface. We specialize mainly to free field theories for which the quantization problem can be completely solved by elementary means. An introduction to the general case will be given in Lectures II and III where the algebraic approach is discussed. The mathematics of Riemann surfaces is a well developed subject whose formalism is reviewed along with some of the principal theorems in Lecture IV. Physical string states are realized in the Hilbert space of a conformal field theory by the action of so-called ''vertex operators'' on the field theory vacuum state. Correlation functions of these vertex operators serve as ingredients for the computation of string amplitudes. They are to be integrated so as to include the contributions of all conformally inequivalent geometries, and a further manipulation (the GSO projection) is to be performed. These steps are to be regarded as part of the string prescription. The are introduced ad hoc to meet invariance and unitarity requirements. However, in these introductory lectures we give a description only of the integration over geometries (Lecture VII). The GSO projection, and related questions of modular invariance and unitarity are beyond the scope of these lectures

Introductory lectures on Conformal Field Theory and Strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randjbar-Daemi, S.; Strathdee, J.

1990-01-01

The aim of these lectures is to provide an introduction to a first quantized formulation of string theory. This amounts to developing a consistent set of prescriptions for the perturbative computation of on-shell string amplitudes. The principal tool in this development is 2-dimensional conformal field theory on oriented manifolds of finite genus without boundaries (we treat only closed strings). This class of theory is much simpler than 4-dimensional quantum gravity with which it has many similarities. The geometry is not dynamical in this case, and the matter fields are not sensitive to local features of the geometry but only to global properties which can be characterized by a finite set of parameters (moduli). This can be formulated as field theory on a Riemann surface. We specialize mainly to free field theories for which the quantization problem can be completely solved by elementary means. An introduction to the general case will be given in Lectures II and III where the algebraic approach is discussed. The mathematics of Riemann surfaces is a well developed subject whose formalism is reviewed along with some of the principal theorems in Lecture IV. Physical string states are realized in the Hilbert space of a conformal field theory by the action of so-called ''vertex operators'' on the field theory vacuum state. Correlation functions of these vertex operators serve as ingredients for the computation of string amplitudes. They are to be integrated so as to include the contributions of all conformally inequivalent geometries, and a further manipulation (the GSO projection) is to be performed. These steps are to be regarded as part of the string prescription. They are introduced ad hoc to meet invariance and unitarity requirements. However, in these introductory lectures we give a description only of the integration over geometries (Lecture VII). The GSO projection, and related questions of modular invariance and unitarity are beyond the scope of these

Open string Regge trajectory and its field theory limit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rojas, Francisco; Thorn, Charles B.

2011-01-01

We study the properties of the leading Regge trajectory in open string theory including the open string planar one-loop corrections. With SU(N) Chan-Paton factors, the sum over planar open string multiloop diagrams describes the 't Hooft limit N→∞ with Ng s 2 fixed. Our motivation is to improve the understanding of open string theory at finite α ' as a model of gauge field theories. SU(N) gauge theories in D space-time dimensions are described by requiring open strings to end on a stack of N Dp-branes of space-time dimension D=p+1. The large N leading trajectory α(t)=1+α ' t+Σ(t) can be extracted, through order g 2 , from the s→-∞ limit, at fixed t, of the four open string tree and planar loop diagrams. We analyze the t→0 behavior with the result that Σ(t)∼-Cg 2 (-α ' t) (D-4)/2 /(D-4). This result precisely tracks the 1-loop Reggeized gluon of gauge theory in D>4 space-time dimensions. In particular, for D→4 it reproduces the known infrared divergences of gauge theory in 4 dimensions with a Regge trajectory behaving as -ln(-α ' t). We also study Σ(t) in the limit t→-∞ and show that, when D ' t/(ln(-α ' t)) γ , where γ>0 depends on D and the number of massless scalars. Thus, as long as 4 ' t arbitrarily large. Finally we present the results of numerical calculations of Σ(t) for all negative t.

On the field/string theory approach to theta dependence in large N Yang-Mills theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabadadze, Gregory

1999-01-01

The theta dependence of the vacuum energy in large N Yang-Mills theory has been studied some time ago by Witten using a duality of large N gauge theories with the string theory compactified on a certain space-time. We show that within the field theory context vacuum fluctuations of the topological charge give rise to the vacuum energy consistent with the string theory computation. Furthermore, we calculate 1/N suppressed corrections to the string theory result. The reconciliation of the string and field theory approaches is based on the fact that the gauge theory instantons carry zerobrane charge in the corresponding D-brane construction of Yang-Mills theory. Given the formula for the vacuum energy we study certain aspects of stability of the false vacua of the model for different realizations of the initial conditions. The vacuum structure appears to be different depending on whether N is infinite or, alternatively, large but finite

Noncritical String Liouville Theory and Geometric Bootstrap Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Hadasz, Leszek; Jaskólski, Zbigniew

The applications of the existing Liouville theories for the description of the longitudinal dynamics of noncritical Nambu-Goto string are analyzed. We show that the recently developed DOZZ solution to the Liouville theory leads to the cut singularities in tree string amplitudes. We propose a new version of the Polyakov geometric approach to Liouville theory and formulate its basic consistency condition — the geometric bootstrap equation. Also in this approach the tree amplitudes develop cut singularities.

The search for higher symmetry in string theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Witten, E [Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ (USA)

1989-11-17

Some remarks are made about the nature and role of the search for higher symmetry in string theory. These symmetries are most likely to be uncovered in a mysterious 'unbroken phase', for which (2+1)-dimensional gravity provides an interesting and soluble model. New insights about conformal field theory, in which one gets 'out of flatland' to see a wider symmetry from a higher-dimensional vantage point, may offer clues to the unbroken phase of string theory. (author).

Zk string fluxes and monopole confinement in non-Abelian theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kneipp, Marco A.C.; Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas

2002-11-01

Recently we considered N = 2 Super Yang-Mills with a mass breaking term and showed the existence of BPS Z k -string solutions for arbitrary simple gauge groups which are spontaneously broken to non-Abelian residual gauge groups. We also calculated their string tensions exactly. In doing so, we have considered in particular the hyper multiplet in the representation of a diquark condensate. In the present work we shall analyze some of the different phases of the theory and find that the magnetic fluxes of the monopoles and Z k strings of the theory are proportional to one another, allowing for monopole confinement in one of the phase transitions of the theory. Then we will calculate the threshold length for a string to break in a new pair of monopole-anti monopole. We will further show that some of the resulting confining theories can obtained by adding a deformation term to N 2 or N = 4 superconformal theories and, as such, may satisfy a gauge/string correspondence. (author)

Minimal string theory is logarithmic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishimoto, Yukitaka; Yamaguchi, Shun-ichi

2005-01-01

We study the simplest examples of minimal string theory whose worldsheet description is the unitary (p,q) minimal model coupled to two-dimensional gravity ( Liouville field theory). In the Liouville sector, we show that four-point correlation functions of 'tachyons' exhibit logarithmic singularities, and that the theory turns out to be logarithmic. The relation with Zamolodchikov's logarithmic degenerate fields is also discussed. Our result holds for generic values of (p,q)

Aspects of type $0$ string theory

CERN Document Server

Blumenhagen, R; Kumar, A; Lüst, Dieter

2000-01-01

A construction of compact tachyon-free orientifolds of the non-supersymmetric Type 0B string theory is presented. Moreover, we study effective non-supersymmetric gauge theories arising on self-dual D3-branes in Type 0B orbifolds and orientifolds.

Quantum string test of nonconformal holography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen-Lin, Xinyi; Medina-Rincon, Daniel; Zarembo, Konstantin [Nordita, Stockholm University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology,Roslagstullsbacken 23, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University,SE-751 08 Uppsala (Sweden)

2017-04-18

We compute Lüscher corrections to the effective string tension in the Pilch-Warner background, holographically dual to N=2{sup ∗} supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The same quantity can be calculated directly from field theory by solving the localization matrix model at large-N. We find complete agreement between the field-theory predictions and explicit string-theory calculation at strong coupling.

The enhancon mechanism in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarv, Laur

2002-01-01

The enhancon mechanism is a specific phenomenon in string theory which resolves a certain naked spacetime singularity arising in the supergravity description related to N = 2 supersymmetric pure gauge theory. After reviewing the problem of singularities in general relativity as well as in string theory, and discussing the prototypical enhancon example constructed by wrapping D6-branes on a K3 surface, the thesis presents three generalisations to this static spherically symmetric case pertaining to large N SU(N) gauge theory. First we will use orientifolds to show how the enhancon mechanism also works in similar situations related to SO(2N+1), USp(2N) and SO(2N) gauge theories. Second we will wrap D-brane distributions on K3 to obtain the enhancon in oblate, toroidal and prolate shapes. Third we will study a rotating enhancon configuration and consider its implications for the black hole entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. (author)

A simple solvable model of quantum field theory of open strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazakov, V.A.; AN SSSR, Moscow

1990-01-01

A model of quantum field theory of open strings without any embedding (D=0) is solved. The world sheets of interacting strings are represented by dynamical planar graphs with dynamical holes of arbitrary sizes. The phenomenon of spontaneous tearing of the world sheet is noticed, which gives a singularity at zero coupling constant of string interaction. This phenomenon can be considered as a nonperturbative effect, similar to renormalons in planar field theories and is closely related to the α' → 0 limit of string field theories. (orig.)

Introduction to conformal field theory and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dixon, L.J.

1989-12-01

These lectures are meant to provide a brief introduction to conformal field theory (CFT) and string theory for those with no prior exposure to the subjects. There are many excellent reviews already available, and most of these go in to much more detail than I will be able to here. 52 refs., 11 figs

Two-matrix models and c =1 string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonora, L.; Xiong Chuansheng

1994-05-01

We show that the most general two-matrix model with bilinear coupling underlies c = 1 string theory. More precisely we prove that W 1+∞ constraints, a subset of the correlation functions and the integrable hierarchy characterizing such two-matrix model, correspond exactly to the W 1+∞ constraints, to the discrete tachyon correlation functions and the integrable hierarchy of the c = 1 string theory. (orig.)

On the geometrical approach to the relativistic string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbashov, B.M.; Nesterenko, V.V.

1978-01-01

In a geometrical approach to the string theory in the four-dimensional Minkowski space the relativistic invariant gauge proposed earlier for the string moving in three-dimensional space-time is used. In contrast to the results of previous paper the system of equations for the coefficients of the fundamental forms of the string model world sheet can be reduced now to one nonlinear Lionville equation again but for a complex valued function u. It is shown that in the case of space-time with arbitrary dimension there are such string motions which are described by one non-linear equation with a real function u. And as a consequence the soliton solutions investigated earlier take place in a geometrical approach to the string theory in any dimensional space-time

Exact solutions and singularities in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horowitz, G.T.; Tseytlin, A.A.

1994-01-01

We construct two new classes of exact solutions to string theory which are not of the standard plane wave of gauged WZW type. Many of these solutions have curvature singularities. The first class includes the fundamental string solution, for which the string coupling vanishes near the singularity. This suggests that the singularity may not be removed by quantum corrections. The second class consists of hybrids of plane wave and gauged WZW solutions. We discuss a four-dimensional example in detail

5D Black Holes and Matrix Strings

CERN Document Server

Dijkgraaf, R; Verlinde, Herman L

1997-01-01

We derive the world-volume theory, the (non)-extremal entropy and background geometry of black holes and black strings constructed out of the NS IIA fivebrane within the framework of matrix theory. The CFT description of strings propagating in the black hole geometry arises as an effective field theory.

High-energy symmetries of string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee Jenchi.

1990-01-01

The author studies the high-energy symmetry structure of string theory corresponding to the massive excitations of the string. These enlarged gauge symmetries are closely related to the existence of zero-norm states in the string spectrum. He has derived these symmetries in the framework of the Hamiltonian version of the first-quantized generalized σ-model formalism. It is conjectured that these infinite space-time symmetry structures could shed light on the finiteness of string perturbation theory. Two interesting phenomena were discovered for these massive states symmetries. One is the inter-'spin' symmetry for the different 'spin' states at each fixed mass level. Specifically, the four physical propagating states with 'spins' up to six of the second massive level of the closed bosonic string are found to form a large gauge multiplet. This is demonstrated by the existence of gauge transformations induced by the type II zero-norm states at this mass level. It is argued that this is a σ-model three loop result for the second massive level and is a general feature for higher massive levels at each fixed mass. The other one is the decoupling of some degenerate positive-norm states. As an example, he explicitly demonstrates that the 'spin' two and scalar physical propagating fields of the third massive level of the open bosonic string are mere gauge artifacts of the higher 'spin' fields at the same mass level. It is conjectured that this phenomenon comes from the well-known ambiguity in defining the positive-norm states due to the existence of zero-norm states in the same Young representation

Singleton strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engquist, J.; Sundell, P.; Tamassia, L.

2007-01-01

The group theoretical structure underlying physics in anti de Sitter (AdS) spacetime is intrinsically different with respect to the flat case, due to the presence of special ultra-short representations, named singletons, that do not admit a flat space limit. The purpose of this collaboration is to exploit this feature in the study of string and brane dynamics in AdS spacetime, in particular while trying to establish a connection between String Theory in AdS backgrounds (in the tensionless limit) and Higher-Spin Gauge Theory. (orig.)

String theory and applications to phenomenology and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florakis, I.G.

2011-07-01

This thesis treats applications of String Theory to problems of cosmology and high energy phenomenology. In particular, we investigate problems related to the description of the initial state of the universe, using the methods of perturbative String Theory. After a review of the string-theoretic tools that will be employed, we discuss a novel degeneracy symmetry between the bosonic and fermionic massive towers of states (MSDS symmetry), living at particular points of moduli space. We study the marginal deformations of MSDS vacua and exhibit their natural thermal interpretation, in connection with the resolution of the Hagedorn divergences of string thermodynamics. The cosmological evolution of a special, 2-dimensional thermal 'Hybrid' model is presented and the correct implementation of the full stringy degrees of freedom leads to the absence of gravitational singularities, within a fully perturbative treatment. (author)

Wilson loops in 3-dimensional N = 6 supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory and their string theory duals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drukker, Nadav; Plefka, Jan; Young, Donovan

2008-01-01

We study Wilson loops in the three-dimensional N = 6 supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory recently constructed by Aharony, Bergman, Jafferis and Maldacena, that is conjectured to be dual to type IIA string theory on AdS 4 x CP 3 . We construct loop operators in the Chern-Simons theory which preserve 1/6 of the supercharges and calculate their expectation value up to 2-loop order at weak coupling. The expectation value at strong coupling is found by constructing the string theory duals of these operators. For low dimensional representations these are fundamental strings, for high dimensional representations these are D2-branes and D6-branes. In support of this identification we demonstrate that these string theory solutions match the symmetries, charges and the preserved supersymmetries of their Chern-Simons theory counterparts.

New gauge symmetries in Witten's Ramond string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kugo, Taichiro; Terao, Haruhiko

1988-01-01

Witten's Raymond string field theory is observed to possess new gauge symmetries, which guarantee the consistency and the equivalence of Witten's theory to the other formulation based on the constrained string field. The projection operator into the gauge-invariant sector is explicitly constructed using an operator similar to the picture changing operator. (orig.)

Constructing 5d orbifold grand unified theories from heterotic strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Tatsuo; Raby, Stuart; Zhang Renjie

2004-01-01

A three-generation Pati-Salam model is constructed by compactifying the heterotic string on a particular T 6 /Z 6 Abelian symmetric orbifold with two discrete Wilson lines. The compactified space is taken to be the Lie algebra lattice G 2 -bar SU(3)-bar SO(4). When one dimension of the SO(4) lattice is large compared to the string scale, this model reproduces many features of a 5d SO(10) grand unified theory compactified on an S 1 /Z 2 orbifold. (Of course, with two large extra dimensions we can obtain a 6d SO(10) grand unified theory.) We identify the orbifold parities and other ingredients of the orbifold grand unified theories in the string model. Our construction provides a UV completion of orbifold grand unified theories, and gives new insights into both field theoretical and string theoretical constructions

P-adic space-time and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volovich, I.V.

1987-01-01

Arguments for the possibility of a p-adic structure of space-time are advanced. The p-adic analog of the Veneziano amplitude is proposed, and this permits a start to be made on the construction of the theory of p-adic strings. The same questions are considered over Galois fields, for which the analog of the Veneziano amplitude is a Jacobi sum that can be expressed in terms of p-adic cohomologies of Fermat curves. An explicit expression for the vertex operator of the corresponding string theory is given

Butterfly tachyons in vacuum string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matlock, Peter

2003-01-01

We use geometrical conformal field theory methods to investigate tachyon fluctuations about the butterfly projector state in vacuum string field theory. We find that the on-shell condition for the tachyon field is equivalent to the requirement that the quadratic term in the string-field action vanish on shell. This further motivates the interpretation of the butterfly state as a D-brane. We begin a calculation of the tension of the butterfly, and conjecture that this will match the case of the sliver and further strengthen this interpretation

Description of hadrons using string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugimoto, Shigeki

2013-01-01

We give a brief overview of 'holographic QCD' for JPS members. Applying the idea of gauge/string duality to QCD, We obtain a description of hadrons based on string theory. Using this description, a lot of properties of hadrons can be analyzed and the results are in reasonable agreement with the observations. We try to explain the basic idea and some of the interesting results in a way accessible to non-experts. (author)

A brief history of string theory from dual models to M-theory

CERN Document Server

Rickles, Dean

2014-01-01

During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and written in a lively fashion, the book will appeal to a wide variety of readers from novice to specialist.

String theory constructions and conformal invariance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govaerts, J.

1990-01-01

This paper reports that as is rather well known, string theories are regarded nowadays by theoretical physicists as a possible framework for the Theory of Everything, or more correctly, for a consistent unified quantum theory of all particles and all their interactions, including gravity. One of the many fascinating facets of these theories is that they could make a centuries old dream come true in a most unique way. Indeed, string theories could well provide the ultimate unification of Nature: the Universe and all that it contains being made of only one fundamental object, with dynamics so rich that it leads to this infinitely large variety of physical phenomena that we observe at all energy scales in our Universe. Moreover, the mathematical structures involved in these theories are so profound and beautiful that they bring together so far unrelated fields in pure mathematics, and have led to important developments in other fields of physics as well. All of physics and all of mathematics coming together in our understanding of the world: was that not the ultimate dream of the Ancient Greeks? But, what are string theories? In the first qualitative approach of this introduction, it may be useful to contrast these theories against the more familiar description of relativistic point-particles. When a single particle propagates freely in space-time, it describes a one- dimensional manifold: its world line. In a quantum description, we associate to this process a quantum amplitude: the Feynman propagator. It is also possible to describe interactions between such particles, by defining probability amplitudes for the splitting and joining of the corresponding world-lines (a priori, the number of particles involved in any such single interaction could be arbitrary but finite)

Energy momentum tensor and marginal deformations in open string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, Ashoke

2004-01-01

Marginal boundary deformations in a two dimensional conformal field theory correspond to a family of classical solutions of the equations of motion of open string field theory. In this paper we develop a systematic method for relating the parameter labelling the marginal boundary deformation in the conformal field theory to the parameter labelling the classical solution in open string field theory. This is done by first constructing the energy-momentum tensor associated with the classical solution in open string field theory using Noether method, and then comparing this to the answer obtained in the conformal field theory by analysing the boundary state. We also use this method to demonstrate that in open string field theory the tachyon lump solution on a circle of radius larger than one has vanishing pressure along the circle direction, as is expected for a co-dimension one D-brane. (author)

Topological conformal algebra and BRST algebra in non-critical string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujikawa, Kazuo; Suzuki, Hiroshi.

1991-03-01

The operator algebra in non-critical string theories is studied by treating the cosmological term as a perturbation. The algebra of covariantly regularized BRST and related currents contains a twisted N = 2 superconformal algebra only at d = -2 in bosonic strings, and a twisted N = 3 superconformal algebra only at d = ±∞ in spinning strings. The bosonic string at d = -2 is examined by replacing the string coordinate by a fermionic matter with c = -2. The resulting bc-βγ system accommodates various forms of BRST cohomology, and the ghost number assignment and BRST cohomology are different in the c = -2 string theory and two-dimensional topological gravity. (author)

Z2 vortex strings in grand unified theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olive, D.; Turok, N.

1982-01-01

Spontaneously broken gauge theories may display distinct vortex string solutions for the disconnected components of the exact gauge symmetry group. A type of Higgs mechanism thought to apply in grand unified theories as being responsible for fermion masses yields Z 2 vortex lines, irrespectively of the group. These could seed galaxy formation if the corresponding fermion masses are superheavy. More generally a Higgs mechanism producing Zsub(n) vortex strings is presented. (orig.)

Predictions for PP-wave string amplitudes from perturbative SYM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gursoy, Umut

2003-01-01

The role of general two-impurity multi-trace operators in the BMN correspondence is explored. Surprisingly, the anomalous dimensions of all two-impurity multi-trace BMN operators to order g 2 2 λ' are completely determined in terms of single-trace anomalous dimensions. This is due to suppression of connected field theory diagrams in the BMN limit and this fact has important implications for some string theory processes on the PP-wave background. We also make gauge theory predictions for the matrix elements of the light-cone string field theory Hamiltonian in the two string-two string and one string-three string sectors. (author)

String theory and cosmological singularities

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

recent times, string theory is providing new perspectives of such singularities which .... holes appear as stacks of a large number of D-branes wrapped in internal .... results into a well-known measure factor which makes the wave function into a.

The QCD Effective String

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espriu, D.

2003-01-01

QCD can be described in a certain kinematical regime by an effective string theory. This string must couple to background chiral fields in a chirally invariant manner, thus taking into account the true chirally non-invariant QCD vacuum. By requiring conformal symmetry of the string and the unitarity constraint on chiral fields we reconstruct the equations of motion for the latter ones. These provide a consistent background for the propagation of the string. By further requiring locality of the effective action we recover the Lagrangian of non-linear sigma model of pion interactions. The prediction is unambiguous and parameter-free. The estimated chiral structural constants of Gasser and Leutwyler fit very well the phenomenological values. (author)

Probing the string winding sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldazabal, Gerardo; Mayo, Martín [G. Física CAB-CNEA and CONICET, Centro Atómico Bariloche,Av. Bustillo 9500, Bariloche (Argentina); Instituto Balseiro, Centro Atómico Bariloche,Av. Bustillo 9500, Bariloche (Argentina); Nuñez, Carmen [Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (CONICET-UBA),C.C. 67 - Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina); Departamento de Física, FCEN, Universidad de Buenos Aires,C.C. 67 - Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2017-03-17

We probe a slice of the massive winding sector of bosonic string theory from toroidal compactifications of Double Field Theory (DFT). This string subsector corresponds to states containing one left and one right moving oscillators. We perform a generalized Kaluza Klein compactification of DFT on generic 2n-dimensional toroidal constant backgrounds and show that, up to third order in fluctuations, the theory coincides with the corresponding effective theory of the bosonic string compactified on n-dimensional toroidal constant backgrounds, obtained from three-point amplitudes. The comparison between both theories is facilitated by noticing that generalized diffeomorphisms in DFT allow to fix generalized harmonic gauge conditions that help in identifying the physical degrees of freedom. These conditions manifest as conformal anomaly cancellation requirements on the string theory side. The explicit expression for the gauge invariant effective action containing the physical massless sector (gravity+antisymmetric+gauge+ scalar fields) coupled to towers of generalized Kaluza Klein massive states (corresponding to compact momentum and winding modes) is found. The action acquires a very compact form when written in terms of fields carrying O(n,n) indices, and is explicitly T-duality invariant. The global algebra associated to the generalized Kaluza Klein compactification is discussed.

Ward Identities of W_{\\infty} Symmetry and Higher Genus Amplitudes in 2D String Theory

OpenAIRE

Hamada, Ken-ji

1995-01-01

The Ward identities of the $W_{\\infty}$ symmetry in two dimensional string theory in the tachyon background are studied in the continuum approach. We consider amplitudes different from 2D string ones by the external leg factor and derive the recursion relations among them. The recursion relations have non-linear terms which give relations among the amplitudes defined on different genus. The solutions agree with the matrix model results even in higher genus. We also discuss differences of role...

Metric-independent measures for supersymmetric extended object theories on curved backgrounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishino, Hitoshi; Rajpoot, Subhash

2014-01-01

For Green–Schwarz superstring σ-model on curved backgrounds, we introduce a non-metric measure Φ≡ϵ ij ϵ IJ (∂ i φ I )(∂ j φ J ) with two scalars φ I (I=1,2) used in ‘Two-Measure Theory’ (TMT). As in the flat-background case, the string tension T=(2πα ′ ) −1 emerges as an integration constant for the A i -field equation. This mechanism is further generalized to supermembrane theory, and to super-p-brane theory, both on general curved backgrounds. This shows the universal applications of dynamical measure of TMT to general supersymmetric extended objects on general curved backgrounds

Twisted tachyon condensation in closed string field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okawa, Yuji; Zwiebach, Barton

2004-01-01

We consider twisted tachyons on C/Z N orbifolds of bosonic closed string theory. It has been conjectured that these tachyonic instabilities correspond to decays of the orbifolds into flat space or into orbifolds with smaller deficit angles. We examine this conjecture using closed string field theory, with the string field truncated to low-level tachyons. We compute the tachyon potentials for C/Z 2 and C/Z 3 orbifolds and find critical points at depths that generate about 70% of the expected change in the deficit angle. We find that both twisted fields and untwisted modes localized near the apex of the cone acquire vacuum expectation values and contribute to the potential. (author)

Story of the string theory. From hadrons to Planck scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petropoulos, P.M.

2010-01-01

Originally the string theory was devised to describe the scattering between hadron particles but was quickly put aside by the success of the quantum chromodynamics. Now string theory appears in the quantum gravity theory and has been involved in almost all attempts to define a physics beyond the standard model and to unify basic interactions. (A.C.)

Space-time versus world-sheet renormalization group equation in string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brustein, R.; Roland, K.

1991-05-01

We discuss the relation between space-time renormalization group equation for closed string field theory and world-sheet renormalization group equation for first-quantized strings. Restricting our attention to massless states we argue that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the fixed point solutions of the two renormalization group equations. In particular, we show how to extract the Fischler-Susskind mechanism from the string field theory equation in the case of the bosonic string. (orig.)

String perturbation theory and effective Lagrangians

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klebanov, I.

1987-09-01

We isolate logarithmic divergences from bosonic string amplitudes on a disc. These divergences are compared with 'tadpole' divergences in the effective field theory with a cosmological term, which also contains an effective potential for the dilation. Also, corrections to β-functions are compared with variations of the effective action. In both cases we find an inconsistency between the two. This is a serious problem which could undermine our ability to remove divergences from the bosonic string

Hawking radiation in string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakai, N.

1986-01-01

String theories in a uniform gravitational field are studied to examine the Hawking radiation. An upper limit is found for the strength of the possible gravitational field: the corresponding Hawking temperature cannot be larger than the Hagedorn limiting temperature divided by π

On deformations and quantization in topological string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kay, Michael

2014-01-01

The study of moduli spaces of N=(2,2) superconformal field theories and more generally of N=(2,2) supersymmetric quantum field theories, has been a longstanding, multifaceted area of research. In this thesis we focus on certain selected general aspects of this study and develop general techniques within the framework of topological string theory. This work is naturally divided into two parts. The first is concerned with aspects of closed topological string theory, and culminates with a theory, where the geometrical structure of the topological anti-topological moduli spaces of N=(2,2) superconformal field theories with central charge c=9 is rediscovered in the light of quantization, within a general framework. The second part is concerned with aspects of the study of the open and closed moduli space of topological conformal field theories at genus zero. In particular, it contains an exposition of a paper, where general results on the classification and computation of bulk-induced deformations of open topological conformal field theories were obtained from a coherent algebraic approach, drawing from the defining L ∞ and A ∞ structures involved. In part, the latter investigation is restricted to arbitrary affine B-twisted Landau Ginzburg models. Subsequently, further original work is presented that completes the topological string field theory structure of B-twisted Landau Ginzburg models.

On the short distance behavior of string theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guida, R.; Konishi, K.; Provero, P.

1991-01-01

Short distance behavior of string theories is investigated by the use of the discretized path-integral formulation. In particular, the minimum physical length and the generalized uncertainty relation are re-derived from a set of Ward-Takahashi identities. In this paper several issues related to the form of the generalized uncertainty relation and to its implications are discussed. A consistent qualitative picture of short distance behavior of string theory seems to emerge from such a study

Quantum field theory II introductions to quantum gravity, supersymmetry and string theory

CERN Document Server

Manoukian, Edouard B

2016-01-01

This book takes a pedagogical approach to explaining quantum gravity, supersymmetry and string theory in a coherent way. It is aimed at graduate students and researchers in quantum field theory and high-energy physics. The first part of the book introduces quantum gravity, without requiring previous knowledge of general relativity (GR). The necessary geometrical aspects are derived afresh leading to explicit general Lagrangians for gravity, including that of general relativity. The quantum aspect of gravitation, as described by the graviton, is introduced and perturbative quantum GR is discussed. The Schwinger-DeWitt formalism is developed to compute the one-loop contribution to the theory and renormalizability aspects of the perturbative theory are also discussed. This follows by introducing only the very basics of a non-perturbative, background-independent, formulation of quantum gravity, referred to as “loop quantum gravity”, which gives rise to a quantization of space. In the second part the author in...

Consistent superstrings as solutions of the D=26 bosonic string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casher, A.; Englert, F.; Nicolai, H.; Taormina, A.

1985-01-01

Consistent closed ten-dimensional superstrings, i.e. the two N=2 superstrings, are contained in the 26-dimensional bosonic closed string theory. The latter thus appears as the fundamental string theory. (orig.)

Field theory and strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonara, L.; Cotta-Ramusino, P.; Rinaldi, M.

1987-01-01

It is well-known that type I and heterotic superstring theories have a zero mass spectrum which correspond to the field content of N=1 supergravity theory coupled to supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in 10-D. The authors study the field theory ''per se'', in the hope that simple consistency requirements will determine the theory completely once one knows the field content inherited from string theory. The simplest consistency requirements are: N=1 supersymmetry; and absence of chiral anomalies. This is what the authors discuss in this paper here leaving undetermined the question of the range of validity of the resulting field theory. As is known, a model of N=1 supergravity (SUGRA) coupled to supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory was known in the form given by Chapline and Manton. The coupling of SUGRA to SYM was determined by the definition of the ''field strength'' 3-form H in this paper

Novel string field theory with also negative energy constituents/objects gives Veneziano amplitude

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, H. B.; Ninomiya, M.

2018-02-01

We have proposed a new type of string field theory. The main point of the present article is to cure some technical troubles: missing two out three terms in Veneziano amplitude. Our novel string field theory, describes a theory with many strings in terms of "objects", which are not exactly, but close to Charles Thorn's string bits. The new point is that the objects in terms of which the universe states are constructed, and which have an essentially 26-momentum variable called J μ , can have the energy J 0 be also negative as well as positive. We get a long way in deriving in this model the Veneziano model and obtain all the three terms needed for a four point amplitude. This result strongly indicates that our novel string field theory is indeed string theory.

Bosonic Liouville string theory in conformal gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schnittger, J.

1990-01-01

The object of the present thesis are the so-called Liouville theories as possibilities for the consistent formulation of string theories beyond the critical dimension. First we discuss the general framework for the quantum theory and explain common properties and differences of different approaches. These considerations lead us to the main demand of the thesis, the formulation of a unified quantum theory for open and closed strings. Of central importance is thereby the construction of the field operator for the Weyl degree of freedom on a suitably defined Hilbert space, so that also in the quantum theory locality and Hermiticity of the Energy-Momentum tensor are respected. In the study of the allowed ground states of the Hilbert space an interesting particularity in comparison to the structure of usual conformal field theories comes across, the importance and consequences of which we intensively study. In the last section we enter the consistence of the theory on the 1-loop level and come then to the final consideration, where we indicate some still open questions of the Liouville theory. (orig.) [de

Splitting strings on integrable backgrounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vicedo, Benoit

2011-05-15

We use integrability to construct the general classical splitting string solution on R x S{sup 3}. Namely, given any incoming string solution satisfying a necessary self-intersection property at some given instant in time, we use the integrability of the worldsheet {sigma}-model to construct the pair of outgoing strings resulting from a split. The solution for each outgoing string is expressed recursively through a sequence of dressing transformations, the parameters of which are determined by the solutions to Birkhoff factorization problems in an appropriate real form of the loop group of SL{sub 2}(C). (orig.)

Vacua and inflation in string theory and supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rummel, Markus

2013-07-01

We study the connection between the early and late accelerated expansion of the universe and string theory. In Part I of this thesis, the observational degeneracy between single field models of inflation with canonical kinetic terms and noncanonical kinetic terms, in particular string theory inspired models, is discussed. The 2-point function observables of a given non-canonical theory and its canonical transform that is obtained by matching the inflationary trajectories in phase space are found to match in the case of Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflation. At the level of the 3-point function observables (non-Gaussianities), we find degeneracy between non-canonical inflation and canonical inflation with a potential that includes a sum of modulated terms. In Part II, we present explicit examples for de Sitter vacua in type IIB string theory. After deriving a sufficient condition for de Sitter vacua in the Kahler uplifting scenario, we show that a globally consistent de Sitter model can be realized on a certain Calabi-Yau manifold. All geometric moduli are stabilized and all known consistency constraints are fulfilled. The complex structure moduli stabilization by fluxes is studied explicitly for a small number of cycles. Extrapolating to a larger number of flux carrying cycles, we verify statistical studies in the literature which show that, in principle, the string landscape can account for a universe with an extremely small cosmological constant.

Vacua and inflation in string theory and supergravity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rummel, Markus

2013-07-15

We study the connection between the early and late accelerated expansion of the universe and string theory. In Part I of this thesis, the observational degeneracy between single field models of inflation with canonical kinetic terms and noncanonical kinetic terms, in particular string theory inspired models, is discussed. The 2-point function observables of a given non-canonical theory and its canonical transform that is obtained by matching the inflationary trajectories in phase space are found to match in the case of Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) inflation. At the level of the 3-point function observables (non-Gaussianities), we find degeneracy between non-canonical inflation and canonical inflation with a potential that includes a sum of modulated terms. In Part II, we present explicit examples for de Sitter vacua in type IIB string theory. After deriving a sufficient condition for de Sitter vacua in the Kahler uplifting scenario, we show that a globally consistent de Sitter model can be realized on a certain Calabi-Yau manifold. All geometric moduli are stabilized and all known consistency constraints are fulfilled. The complex structure moduli stabilization by fluxes is studied explicitly for a small number of cycles. Extrapolating to a larger number of flux carrying cycles, we verify statistical studies in the literature which show that, in principle, the string landscape can account for a universe with an extremely small cosmological constant.

String beta function equations from c=1 matrix model

CERN Document Server

Dhar, A; Wadia, S R; Dhar, Avinash; Mandal, Gautam; Wadia, Spenta R

1995-01-01

We derive the \\sigma-model tachyon \\beta-function equation of 2-dimensional string theory, in the background of flat space and linear dilaton, working entirely within the c=1 matrix model. The tachyon \\beta-function equation is satisfied by a \\underbar{nonlocal} and \\underbar{nonlinear} combination of the (massless) scalar field of the matrix model. We discuss the possibility of describing the `discrete states' as well as other possible gravitational and higher tensor backgrounds of 2-dimensional string theory within the c=1 matrix model. We also comment on the realization of the W-infinity symmetry of the matrix model in the string theory. The present work reinforces the viewpoint that a nonlocal (and nonlinear) transform is required to extract the space-time physics of 2-dimensional string theory from the c=1 matrix model.

Neutrino Majorana masses from string theory instanton effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibanez, Luis E.; Uranga, Angel M.

2007-01-01

Finding a plausible origin for right-handed neutrino Majorana masses in semirealistic compactifications of string theory remains one of the most difficult problems in string phenomenology. We argue that right-handed neutrino Majorana masses are induced by non-perturbative instanton effects in certain classes of string compactifications in which the U(1) B-L gauge boson has a Stueckelberg mass. The induced operators are of the form e -U ν R ν R where U is a closed string modulus whose imaginary part transforms appropriately under B-L. This mass term may be quite large since this is not a gauge instanton and Re U is not directly related to SM gauge couplings. Thus the size of the induced right-handed neutrino masses could be a few orders of magnitude below the string scale, as phenomenologically required. It is also argued that this origin for neutrino masses would predict the existence of R-parity in SUSY versions of the SM. Finally we comment on other phenomenological applications of similar instanton effects, like the generation of a μ-term, or of Yukawa couplings forbidden in perturbation theory

Symmetries of string, M- and F-theories

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergshoeff, Eric; Proeyen, Antoine Van

2001-01-01

The d = 10 type II string theories, d = 11 M-theory and d = 12 F-theory have the same symmetry group. It can be viewed either as a subgroup of a conformal group OSp(1|64) or as a contraction of OSp(1|32). The theories are related by different identifications of their symmetry operators as generators

Monads, strings, and M theory